GEORGE  ROMNEY 


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in  2013 


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GEORGE  ROMNEY 

By 

ARTHUR  B.  CHAMBERLAIN 


WITH  73  PLATES 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S 

19  I  o 


SONS 


M  6EITV  CENTER 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 


THE  first  part  of  this  book  is  devoted  to  the  life  and  career  of 
Romney,  and  the  writer  has  attempted  to  make  it  as  com- 
plete and  accurate  as  possible.  Frequent  use  has  been  made 
of  the  earlier  biographies  by  his  son,  the  Rev.  John  Romney,  and  his 
bosom  friend,  William  Hayley,  as  these,  in  spite  of  their  prolixity, 
contain  by  far  the  fullest  details  of  Romney 's  personal  history.  The 
life  of  a  painter  who  is  completely  wrapped  up  in  his  art,  as  Romney 
was,  is  usually  an  uneventful  one ;  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  when  the 
painter  in  question  is  a  man  of  genius,  of  very  real  interest  to  those 
who  have  come  under  his  spell.  By  many  Romney  is  still  regarded 
merely  as  the  man  who  painted  and  loved  Lady  Hamilton  and 
deserted  his  own  wife  for  more  than  thirty  years — an  inaccurate  and 
exaggerated  summary  of  his  life,  based  upon  insufficient  knowledge. 
This  point  of  view  the  writer  has  attempted  to  dispel  by  placing  in 
their  true  perspective  the  many  good  qualities  of  his  character, 
qualities  which  more  than  counterbalanced  his  less  worthy  ones.  The 
second  part  deals  with  Romney  s  habits  and  methods  of  work,  while 
the  third  is  concerned  with  him  as  an  artist,  and  with  the  position  he 
holds  in  the  English  school  of  painting. 

A  number  of  the  portraits  and  pictures  chosen  to  illustrate 
Romney's  art  are  here  reproduced  for  the  first  time  from  photographs 
of  the  original  paintings,  thanks  to  the  kindness  of  the  owners. 
Among  them — to  mention  only  a  few — may  be  noted  four  of  the  five 
pictures  from  Lord  Lathom's  collection,  the  '  Serena  Reading ' 
belonging  to  Major  Thurlow,  the  '  Mrs.  Lee  Acton '  ( Lord  De 
Saumarez),  the  *  Bosanquet  Family '  (Major  Bosanquet),  the  early 
Collingwood   portraits,   the   Liverpool   cartoons,  and  several  from 

v 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne's  collection.  The  writer  has  to  offer 
his  most  sincere  thanks  to  the  many  owners  of  Romney's  works  who 
have  so  generously  allowed  them  to  be  reproduced,  and  due  acknow- 
ledgment of  this  courtesy  will  be  found  in  each  case  in  the  List  of 
Plates.  During  the  printing  of  the  book  several  owners  who  had 
granted  this  permission,  and  others  whose  pictures  are  described 
though  not  given  as  illustrations,  have  died,  and  it  has  not  been 
possible  in  every  case  to  make  the  necessary  alterations  in  the  text. 
In  the  same  way,  more  than  one  collection  has  been  sold,  or  individual 
pictures  have  changed  hands,  during  the  same  period,  and  here  again 
it  has  not  been  always  possible  to  trace  the  present  ownership  of 
such  works. 

The  writer's  sincere  thanks  are  also  due  to  those  who  have 
helped  him  in  the  compilation  of  his  book,  more  particularly  to  Mr. 
Lawrence  Romney,  the  painter's  great-grandson,  who  has  given  him 
more  valuable  information  and  assistance  than  he  can  acknowledge 
at  all  adequately.  He  has  also  to  thank  Mr.  Ernest  H.  Hare,  who 
kindly  undertook  to  draw  up  the  List  of  Modern  Engravings  after 
Romney ;  Mr.  J.  Graham  Kenion,  the  honorary  secretary  of  the 
Liverpool  Royal  Institution,  who  has  given  every  facility  for  the  study 
and  photographing  of  the  cartoons  in  his  charge ;  Lord  Ronald 
Sutherland  Gower,  Mr.  W.  Roberts,  Mr.  W.  Sichel,  and  others,  who, 
from  time  to  time,  have  corresponded  with  the  writer  on  details  in 
connection  with  Romney's  life  or  paintings  ;  and,  lastly,  to  the  editor 
of  the  series  in  which  this  book  is  published,  Dr.  James  H.  W.  Laing, 
for  much  valuable  help  in  reading  the  proofs,  and  in  many  other 
directions.  A.  B.  C. 

City  op  Birmingham  Museum  and  Art  Gallery 
February  25th,  1910 


vi 


Introductory  Note, 
List  of  Plates, 
Bibliography, 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
V 

ix 

xiv 


PART  I.— THE  LIFE  OF  ROMNEY,  ....  .  1-244 

PART  II.— THE  MAN  AND  HIS  METHODS,         .  .  .  245-279 

PART  III.— HIS  ART,  ........  280-380 

APPENDIX  I. — 

The  Children  of  John  and  Ann  Romney,     ....  381-385 
APPENDIX  II.— 

Honora  Sneyd  and  the  '  Serena  '  Pictures,  ....  386-389 

APPENDIX  III. — 

List  of  Modern  Engravings  after  George  Romney  (compiled  by 

Mr.  Ernest  H.  Hare),     ......  390-396 

INDEX,    ........  .  397-419 


vii 


LIST  OF  PLATES 


Frontispiece — Serena  Reading. 
Reproduced  by  permission  of  Major  Thurlow. 


FACINO  PAGE 

4 


i.  Mrs.  George  Romney,  the  Artist's  wife,  ..... 
Reproduced  by  permission  of  Messrs.  Shepherd  Brothers. 

ii.  Richard  Cumberland,      .......  5 

From  the  Picture  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

in.  Mrs.  Yates,         ........  14 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Lord  Llangattock. 

iv.  William  Hayley,  ........  15 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  C.  Fairfax  Murray. 

v.  The  Stafford  Family  ('  Children  Dancing  in  a  Ring 1),     .  .  .  24 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland,  K.G.    From  a 
Photograph  by  Messrs.  E.  Harrison  and  Son. 

vi.  The  Marquis  of  Stafford,  .......  25 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland,  K.G.    From  a 
Photograph  by  Messrs.  E.  Harrison  and  Son. 

vrr.  The  Countess  of  Carlisle,  .......  34 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland,  K.G.    From  a 
Photograph  by  Messrs.  E.  Harrison  and  Son. 

viii.  Lady  Hamilton  with  a  Dog,  or  '  Nature,1  .  .  .  .35 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne. 

ix.  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Bacchante,  ......  44 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne. 

x.  Anna  Seward,      ........  45 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  T.  L.  Burrovves,  of  Stradone. 

xi.  George  Romney,  by  himself,       ......  54 

From  the  Picture  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

xii.  Mrs.  (afterwards  Lady)  Russell,  and  her  Son  Henry,       .  .  .55 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Sir  G.  A.  Charles  Russell,  Bt.    From  a 
Photograph  by  Mr.  Emery  Walker. 

xin.  Mrs.  Thomas  Raikes,       .......  66 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Charles  J.  YVertheimer. 

xiv.  The  Ladies  Caroline  and  Elizabeth  Spencer  ('  Beauty  and  the  Arts .  67 
Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Charles  J.  YVertheimer. 

ix 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


FACING  PAGE 


xv.  The  Shipwreck  Scene  from  Shakespeare's  '  Tempest,"  .  .  .74 

Reproduced  from  the  Engraving  by  Benjamin  Smith  in  vol.  i.  of 
Boydell's  '  Shakespeare/  from  a  copy  kindly  lent  by  Messrs.  Henry 
Graves  and  Son,  Ltd. 


xvi.  Mrs.  Clements,  ..... 
Reproduced  by  permission  of  Colonel  Clements. 

xvii.  Shakespeare  nursed  by  Comedy  and  Tragedy, 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne. 

xviii.  Madame  de  Genlis,  ..... 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Miss  Courtenay. 

xix.  William  Cowper,  ..... 

From  the  Picture  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

xx.  Lady  Hamilton  as  Contemplation, 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Lieut. -Col.  Sir  Audley  Neeld,  Bt 


,  C.B. 


xxi.  The  Bosanquet  Family,  .... 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Major  Bosanquet,  Sherwood  Foresters. 
From  a  Photograph  kindly  supplied  by  Mr.  Eugene  Cremetti. 


75 
84 
85 
94 
95 
104 


xxii.  Flaxman  Modelling  the  Bust  of  Hayley,        ......  105 

From  the  Picture  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

xxiii.  Mrs.  Colli ngwood,       .  .  .  .  .  .  .114 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Miss  Emily  Purvis. 

xxiv.  Miss  Collingwood,      .......  115 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Miss  Emily  Purvis. 

xxv.  Master  Collingwood,  .  .  .  .  .  .124 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Miss  Emily  Purvis. 

xxvi.  Mrs.  Wilbraham  Bootle  with  a  Dog,  ....  125 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Earl  of  Lathom.    From  a  Photograph 
by  Mr.  Harold  Baker. 

xxvn.  Mrs.  George  Wilson  and  her  Daughter,         ....  134 
Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Earl  of  Lathom.    From  a  Photograph 
by  Mr.  Harold  Baker. 

xxvm.  Mrs.  Wilbraham  Bootle,         .  .  .  .  .  .135 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Earl  of  Lathom.    From  a  Photograph 
by  Mr.  Harold  Baker. 

xxix.  Mr.  Wilbraham  Bootle,  ......  146 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Earl  of  Lathom.    From  a  Photograph 
by  Mr.  Harold  Baker. 

xxx.  Edward  Wilbraham  Bootle  and  Randle  Bootle,         .  .  .147 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Earl  of  Lathom.    From  a  Photograph 
by  Mr.  Harold  Baker. 

xxxi.  Lady  Hanmer,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .156 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Lord  Kenyon,  K.C.V.O. 

X 


LIST  OF  PLATES 


PLATE  FACING  PAGE 

xxxii.  Mrs.  Jordan,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .157 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Sir  Cuthbert  Quilter,  Bt. 

xxxin.  The  Countess  of  Clanricarde,  .....  .  164 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Sir  Hugh  P.  Lane. 

xxxiv.  Miss  Ramus  (afterwards  Marquise  de  Noailles),         .  .  .  165 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Hon.  W.  F.  D.  Smith,  M.P. 

xxxv.  Miss  Benedetta  Ramus  (afterwards  Lady  Day),  .  .  .  174 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Hon.  W.  F.  D.  Smith,  M.P. 

xxxvi.  Lady  Augusta  Murray,  .  .  .  .  .  .175 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Charles  J.  Wertheimer. 

xxxvii.  Mrs.  Blanshard,         .......  184 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  C.  S.  Pemberton. 

xxxvin.  George  and  Katherine  Frances  Cornewall,      ....  185 
Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  late  Rev.  Sir  George  Henry  Corne- 
wall, Bt. 

xxxix.  Thomas  John  and  Catherine  Mary  Clavering,  .  .  .194 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  late  Rev.  J.  W.  Napier  Clavering. 

xi..  Master  Thomas  Wallace,        .  .  .  .  .  .195 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  J.  Hope  Wallace. 

xli.  Miss  Elizabeth  Wallace,         ......  204 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  J.  Hope  Wallace. 

xlii.  The  Duchess  of  Gordon  and  her  Son,  the  Marquis  of  Huntly,  .  205 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Charles  J.  Wertheimer. 

xliii.  Mrs.  Stratford  Canning  and  her  Daughter,     ....  214 
Reproduced  by  permission  of  Lord  Leith  of  Fyvie.    From  a  Photograph 
kindly  supplied  by  Messrs.  Vicars  Brothers,  the  holders  of  the  copy- 
right. 

xuv.  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Nun,       .  .  .  .  .  .215 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne. 

xlv.  Lady  Hamilton  (Unfinished  Study),   .....  226 
Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  F.  C.  Arkwright. 

xlvi.  Lady  Hamilton  as  Euphrosyne  (Unfinished  Study),   .  .  .  227 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  G.  Harland  Peck. 

xx.vii.  Lady  Hamilton 'as  a  Cliild ,  (Unfinished  Study),      .  .  .  234 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne. 

xlviii.  Elizabeth,  Lady  Forbes,         ......  235 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Sir  Duncan  Hay,  Bart.,  of  Haystoun. 

xlix.  Mrs.  Robinson  (' Perdita'),     ......  244 

From  the  Picture  in  the  Wallace  Collection,  Hertford  House. 

xi 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


PLATE  FACING  PAOE 

l.  Lady  Katherine  Poulett,  .  .  .  .  .  .245 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  late  Hon.  Harold  Finch-Hatton. 

li.  Mrs.  Lee  Acton  (Second  Wife  of  Nathaniel  Lee  Acton),  .  .  254 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Lord  De  Saumarez.    From  a  Photograph 
kindly  supplied  by  Messrs.  Colnaghi,  Pall  Mall  East. 

nr.  Lady  Lemon,    ........  255 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Colonel  Tremayne. 

mi.  Mrs.  Josiah  Wedgwood,  ......  264 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Miss  Wedgwood. 

liv.  Mrs.  Townley  Ward,     .......  265 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Lord  Aldenham. 

lv.  Mrs.  Maxwell,  .......  274 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Charles  J.  Wertheimer. 

lvi.  The  Margravine  of  Anspach,  .....  275 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Lady  O'Hagan. 

lvii.  Sir  William  Lemon,  of  Carclew,  .....  284 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Colonel  Tremayne. 

lviii.  John  Oglander,  D.D.,   .......  285 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Spooner,  D.D.,  Warden  of 
New  College,  Oxford.    From  a  Photograph  by  Mr.  Harold  Baker. 

lix.  Berkeley  and  Keppel  Craven,    ......  294 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Lady  O'Hagan. 

lx.  Thomas  Grove,  of  Feme,  ......  295 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Sir  Walter  Grove,  Bart. 

lxi.  Mrs.  Rattray,    ........  306 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Hon.  John  Manners  Yorke. 

lxii.  Miss  Mary  Johnson,      .......  307 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Charles  J.  Wertheimer. 

lxiii.  Boys  in  a  Boat,  Drifting  out  to  Sea,        .       .  .  .  .  350 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne. 

lxiv.  Cupid  and  Psyche,        .......  351 

From  the  Cartoon  in  the  Liverpool  Royal  Institution,  No.  153.  From 
a  Photograph  by  Messrs.  W.  A.  Mansell  and  Co. 

lxv.  Cupid  and  Psyche,        .......  354 

From  the  Cartoon  in  the  Liverpool  Royal  Institution,  No.  154.  From 
a  Photograph  by  Messrs.  W.  A.  Mansell  and  Co. 

lxvi.  Psyche  and  Venus,        .......  355 

From  the  Cartoon  in  the  Liverpool  Royal  Institution,  No.  158.  From 
a  Photograph  by  Messrs.  W.  A.  Mansell  and  Co. 


LIST  OF  PLATES 


PLATE  FACING  PAGE 

lxvii.  Eurydice  fleeing  from  Aristaeus,  .....  358 

From  the  Cartoon  in  the  Liverpool  Royal  Institution,  No.  150.  From 
a  Photograph  by  Messrs.  W.  A.  Mansell  and  Co. 

LXVIII.  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  ......  359 

From  the  Cartoon  in  the  Liverpool  Royal  Institution,  No.  152.  From 
a  Photograph  by  Messrs.  W.  A.  Mansell  and  Co. 

lxix.  Atossa's  Dream,  .......  362 

From  the  Cartoon  in  the  Liverpool  Royal  Institution,  No.  161.  From 
a  Photograph  by  Messrs.  W.  A.  Mansell  and  Co. 

lxx.  The  Infant  Shakespeare  nursed  by  Comedy  and  Tragedy,        .  .  363 

From  the  Cartoon  in  the  Liverpool  Royal  Institution,  No.  165.  From 
a  Photograph  by  Messrs.  W.  A.  Mansell  and  Co. 

lxxi.  Mrs.  Thomas  Pemberton,         ......  370 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Charles  J.  Wertheimer. 

lxxii.  Mrs.  Tickell,     ........  371 

Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  Alfred  de  Rothschild. 


Xlll 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Armstrong,  Sir  Walter.  Article  on  Romney  in  the  '  Dictionary  of  National  Biography.' 
Vol.  xux.  1897. 

Colvin,  Sidney,  M.A.  '  From  Rigaud  to  Reynolds :  Characteristics  of  French  and 
English  Painting  in  the  Eighteenth  Century.  No.  xm.  George  Romney.'  The 
Portfolio,  1873. 

Cumberland,  Richard.     '  Memoirs  of  Mr.  George  Romney.'    The  European  Magazine, 

June,  1803,  pp.  417-423. 
Cunningham,  Allan.     '  The  Lives  of  the  Most  Eminent  British  Painters.'  Revised 

edition,  1879,  edited  by  Mrs.  Charles  Heaton.  3  Vols.    'George  Romney'  (Vol.  n. 

pp.  137-209). 

Cust,  Lionel,  F.S.A.  'The  Romney  Exhibition  at  the  Grafton  Gallery.'  Magazine 
of  Art,  August,  1900,  pp.  449-452. 

Fuseli,  Henry,  R.A.    Article  on  Romney  in  Pilkington's  '  Dictionary  of  Painters.'  1810. 

Gamlin,  Hilda.    'George  Romney  and  his  Art.'  1894. 

Gower,  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland.  '  Romney  and  Lawrence.'  ('The  Great  Artists'). 
1882. 

Gower,  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland.  '  George  Romney.'  1904. 
Hayley,  William.     '  The  Life  of  George  Romney,  Esq.'  1809. 

Maxwell,  Sir  Herbert.    '  George  Romney.'    ('  The  Makers  of  British  Art ').  1902. 

'  Paston,  George.'    '  George  Romney.'    (' Little  Books  on  Art.').  1903. 
Phillips,  Thomas,  R.A.    Article  on  Romney  in  Abraham  Rees'  '  Cyclopaedia,  or  Universal 
Dictionary  of  Arts,  Sciences,  and  Literature.'  1819. 

Redgrave,  Samuel  and  Richard.    'A  Century  of  Painters  of  the  English  School.' 

Redgrave,  Samuel.    '  A  Dictionary  of  Artists  of  the  English  School.'  1874. 

Roberts,  W.    Article  on  Romney  in  Bryan's  '  Dictionary  of  Painters  and  Engravers.' 

Vol.  iv.     1904  Edition. 
Romney,  Rev.  John.    'Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Works  of  George  Romney.'  1830. 

Ward,  Humphry,  and  Roberts,  W.    '  Romney  :  a  Biographical  and  Critical  Essay,  with 

a  Catalogue  Raisonne  of  his  Works.'    2  Vols.  1904. 
Wedmore,  Frederick.    '  George  Romney '  in  '  Studies  in  English  Art,'  Second  Series. 

1880. 

xiv 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

'Cumberland,  Richard,  Memoirs  of,  Written  by  Himself.'  1806. 

Gilchrist,  Alexander.    '  Life  of  William  Blake.'    Second  Edition.    2  Vols.  1880. 

Jeaffreson,  J.  Cordy.    'The  Queen  of  Naples  and  Lord  Nelson.'    Vol.  r. 

•  Hayley,  William,  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of,  together  with  Memoirs  of 
Thomas  Alphonso  Hayley.'  1823. 

Horne,  Henry  P.  '  An  Illustrated  Catalogue  of  Engraved  Portraits  and  Fancy  Subjects 
painted  by  Thomas  Gainsborough,  R.A.,  published  between  1760  and  1820,  and 
by  George  Romney,  published  between  1770  and  1830.'  1891. 

Phillips,  Claude.    '  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.'    1894.    (Chap,  vi.) 

Russell,  A.  G.  B.  'The  Letters  of  William  Blake,  together  with  his  Life  by  F.  Tatham.' 
1906. 

'Seward,  Anna,  Letters  of,  written  between  the  years  1784  and  1807.'    6  Vols.  1811. 

Sichel,  Walter.    '  Emma,  Lady  Hamilton.'  1905. 

Smith,  J.  T.    '  Nollekens  and  his  Times.'    Second  Edition.  1829. 

Wright,  Thomas.    '  Life  of  William  Cowper.'  1892. 


The  Gentleman  s  Magazine,  December  1802  (Obituary  Notice  of  Romney.) 
Black  and  White,  June  2nd,  1894.    (Description  of  Whitestock  Hall  and  its  Contents.) 
Catalogues  of  the  Romney  Exhibition  in  the  Grafton  Galleries,  1900  and  1900-1. 
Illustrated  Catalogue  of  the  Loan  Collection  of  Eighteenth  Century  English  Portraits  held 

in  the  City  of  Birmingham  Art  Gallery  in  1900. 
Illustrated  Catalogue  of  the  Loan  Collection  of  English  Eighteenth  Century  Portraits  held 

in  the  City  of  Birmingham  Art  Gallery  in  1903. 
Illustrated  Catalogue  of  a  Loan  Collection  of  Historical  Portraits  (1714-1837)  held  at 

Oxford,  1906. 


XV 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


PART  I:  HIS  LIFE 
I 

GEORGE  ROMNEY,  who,  from  very  humble  beginnings, 
succeeded  in  working  his  way,  with  little  aid  except  from 
his  own  natural  gifts,  into  the  front  rank  of  the  painters 
of  his  day,  has  suffered  greater  fluctuations  of  reputation  from  the 
fickleness  of  artistic  fashion  than  any  other  artist  of  his  period.  It 
was  not  his  fate  to  struggle  through  life  unrecognised,  fighting 
ineffectually  against  poverty  and  neglect,  to  be  acclaimed  as  a  genius 
only  when  the  brush  had  finally  dropped  from  his  fingers ;  nor,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  he  one  of  those  happier  beings  whose  fame 
remains  undiminished  long  after  they  themselves  have  passed  away. 
For  some  twenty  years  after  his  return  from  Italy  in  1775  he  divided 
the  patronage  of  the  town  with  Reynolds  and  Gainsborough,  and,  judg- 
ing by  the  number  of  his  sitters,  was  for  a  time  the  most  popular  painter 
in  London,  so  that,  with  a  scale  of  prices  which  appears  absurdly  low 
when  compared  with  modern  standards,  he  was  yet  able  to  make  a 
large  income. 

In  spite  of  this  very  complete  recognition  during  his  lifetime, 
he  was  forgotten  almost  as  soon  as  he  was  dead,  and  before 
many  years  had  passed  his  finest  portraits  were  regarded  with  indif- 
ference, and  were  often  pushed  away  into  corners  as  of  no  account, 
to  make  room  for  fresher  canvases  by  far  less  gifted  men  who 
happened  to  be  the  fashionable  face-painters  of  a  later  day.  This 
sudden  and  almost  total  eclipse  of  his  reputation  was  owing,  to  some 
extent,  to  the  fact  that  he  never  became  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Academy,  and  did  not  send  a  single  picture  to  its  exhibitions ;  and, 
indeed,  never  showed  his  work  in  public  at  all,  except  during  the 

G.  B.— 1  1 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


first  few  years  after  his  removal  to  London,  when  his  powers  had 
not  reached  maturity.  From  this  cause  his  great  artistic  capabilities 
were  known  only  to  those  who  went  to  him  for  their  portraits ;  and 
his  sitters  were  drawn  chiefly  from  the  aristocracy  and  the  higher 
ranks  of  society,  while  the  pictures  themselves  were  sent  from  his 
studio  straight  to  the  great  country-mansions  and  houses  for  which 
they  were  intended,  where  few  but  the  personal  friends  of  the  owners 
had  opportunities  of  seeing  them.  To  the  general  body  of  the  public, 
who  flocked  to  the  Royal  Academy  exhibitions  year  after  year,  he 
was  but  a  name,  and  even  his  name  was  soon  forgotten. 

Another  reason  for  this  quick  forgetfulness  is  to  be  looked  for 
in  Romney's  own  character.    He  was  unsociable  in  his  habits,  and 
very  rarely  mixed  in  general  society.    Unlike  Reynolds,  he  had  few 
intimate  friends  among  men  of  commanding  intellect,  and  was  seldom 
a  visitor  at  the  tables  of  great  people.    In  the  published  memoirs  and 
diaries  of  his  contemporaries,  and  of  those  of  the  succeeding  generation, 
there  is  little  mention  of  his  pictures  and  even  less  of  the  man  himself, 
whereas  references  to  Reynolds  and  his  portraits  are  met  with  con- 
stantly, and  to  Gainsborough  almost  as  often.     It  is  true  that  he 
had  a  zealous  advocate  in  William  Hayley,  whose  great  and  quite 
undeserved  reputation  as  a  poet  gave  him  the  ear  of  the  public ;  but 
Hay  ley's  opinions  on  art  and  literature,  though  received  with  acclama- 
tion by  those  who  had  no  sound  knowledge  of  such  matters,  were 
little  considered  by  his  more  intellectual  contemporaries,  and  after 
his  death  remained  unread  and  were  quickly  forgotten ;  so  that  the 
mutual  admiration  society  which  gathered  round  his  hospitable  hearth 
at  Eartham,  in  which  Romney  was  most  at  home,  did  little  by  its 
adulation  for  the  future  upholding  of  the  painter's  fame.    Miss  Seward 
was  lavish  in  her  praises  when  he  painted  her  portrait;  and  more 
references  to  him  are  to  be  found  in  her  Letters  than  in  any  other 
contemporary  publication  of  the  kind.    Richard  Cumberland,  too,  did 
him  good  service  with  his  pen,  and  in  a  more  public  way,  at  a  time 
when  such  recognition  was  of  value  to  him ;  but  the  only  writer  of 
outstanding  genius  in  whose  pages  Romney's  name  occurs  was  William 
Cowper,  who  wrote  the  well-known  sonnet, '  To  George  Romney,  Esq.' 
immediately  after  sitting  to  him  for  his  portrait  at  Hayley 's  country 
house.    These  lines  will  live,  but  to-day  Hayley 's  fulsome  inanities  in 
verse  are  completely  forgotten,  except  by  those  who  are  forced  to  hurry 
through  them  when  engaged  upon  a  study  of  Romney's  life  and  art. 
Forgotten,  too,  are  Richard  Cumberland's  laborious  lines  in  his  honour, 
2 


GROWTH   OF  HIS  REPUTATION 


and  Anna  Seward's  rhyming  praises,  and  the  more  ponderous  attempts 
of  the  still  smaller  poetic  fry. 

Fifty  years  after  his  death  the  few  people  who  made  it  their 
business  to  write  about  such  things  had  but  faint  praise  to  bestow 
upon  his  work.  It  was  very  rarely  that  one  of  his  pictures  was  seen 
in  public,  though  between  the  year  1817  and  1855  some  twenty  of 
them  were  exhibited  at  the  British  Institution.  After  that  date 
examples  of  his  art  were  shown  there  in  much  greater  numbers ;  as 
many  as  eleven  were  lent  in  1862,  and  twenty-one  in  1863,  among 
them  being  some  of  his  finest  achievements.  In  the  National  Portrait 
Exhibitions,  held  at  South  Kensington  in  1867  and  1868,  thirty-six  of 
his  pictures  were  included,  and  nine  had  been  shown  some  years 
previously  at  the  Manchester  Art  Treasures  Exhibition  in  1857. 
From  the  date  of  the  first  of  the  Winter  Exhibitions  of  the  Royal 
Academy,  in  1871,  Romney  may  be  said  to  have  come  into  his  own 
kingdom  again.  In  this  first  year  only  one  of  his  pictures  was  on  the 
walls,  but  it  was  the  beautiful  '  Mrs.  Russell  and  Child,'  which  at  once 
attracted  the  attention  and  pleased  the  fancy  of  the  public  ;  and  since 
that  date  full  justice  has  been  rendered  by  the  Royal  Academy  to  one 
who  during  his  lifetime  was  ignored  by  most  of  its  members.  Since 
the  seventies  his  reputation  has  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds,  until 
now  it  stands  higher  than  it  did  in  the  days  when  he  was  at  work  in 
his  studio  in  Cavendish  Square ;  higher  indeed  than  it  deserves,  if  it 
is  gauged  by  the  extraordinary  prices  now  paid  for  his  finest,  and 
often  even  for  his  most  indifferent,  efforts.  The  scant,  almost  con- 
temptuous, consideration  of  fifty  years  ago  has  given  place  to  an 
extravagant  praise  and  an  exaggerated  estimation  which  attempts  to 
accord  him  a  higher  place  in  the  ranks  of  England's  greatest  painters 
than  he  has  a  right  to  fill.  His  pictures  are  now  so  eagerly  sought 
after,  and  such  great  sums  are  paid  for  them  in  the  auction-room, 
and  still  greater  ones  when  they  change  hands  by  private  treaty,  that 
it  has  become  impossible  for  any  but  the  most  wealthy  to  possess 
them.  No  English  painter's  works  have  increased  so  rapidly  in 
value  during  the  '  picture  boom '  of  recent  years  as  his,  and  to-day 
hardly  a  month  goes  by  without  one  of  them  changing  ownership  at 
some  extraordinary  figure. 

When,  in  1807,  a  few  years  after  the  painter's  death,  '  the  select 
and  reserved  collection  of  portraits  of  the  eminent  and  very  celebrated 
artist'  was  put  up  for  sale  at  Christie's,  few  connoisseurs,  with  the 
exception  of  one  or  two  artists,  showed  any  desire  to  make  purchases, 

3 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


and  most  of  the  more  important  pictures  were  bought  in,  and  were 
not  seen  again  in  the  auction-room  until  the  sale  held  after  the  death 
of  Romney's  son  in  1834.  For  sixty  years  or  so  examples  of  his  work 
rarely  came  under  the  hammer,  and  when  they  did  they  fetched  very 
small  prices.  Early  in  the  seventies,  however,  a  keener  appreciation 
began  to  be  shown.  In  1875,  two  pictures  of  Lady  Hamilton  as  the 
'Tragic  Muse'  and  the  'Comic  Muse,'  from  the  late  Marquis  of 
Hertford's  collection,  realised  240  and  310  guineas  respectively,  and 
in  the  same  year  '  Lady  Hamilton  at  the  Spinning  Wheel '  was 
acquired  by  the  Earl  of  Normanton  for  770  guineas,  and  the  same 
lady  as  a  '  Bacchante '  was  knocked  down  for  200  guineas.  The 
so-called  '  Parson's  Daughter,'  now  in  the  National  Gallery,  was 
bought  at  the  Anderdon  sale  in  1879  for  250  guineas,  and  in  the 
same  year  the  well-known  picture  of  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  Ariadne,' 
in  a  sea-cave,  only  fetched  220  guineas.  In  1884,  a  portrait  of  Mrs. 
Jordan,  apparently  the  one  now  in  the  collection  of  Sir  Cuthbert 
Quilter,  was  bought  for  £735.  Prices  had  further  advanced  by  1890, 
when  thirteen  Romneys  were  offered  at  Christie's  from  the  collection 
of  Mr.  Walter  J.  Long,  of  Preshaw,  great-nephew  of  the  surgeon  who 
was  one  of  Romney's  most  intimate  friends.  Among  them  the  well- 
known  full-length  of '  Lady  Hamilton  as  Circe  '  produced  3850  guineas, 
and  the  '  Bashful  Child,'  950  guineas.  In  the  same  year  '  Lady 
Hamilton  as  Sensibility,'  of  which  Hayley  became  the  original 
possessor  at  a  cost  of  only  100  guineas,  was  bought  for  2900  guineas, 
and,  at  the  Carwardine  sale,  1050  guineas  was  given  for  '  Lady 
Hamilton  as  Contemplation,'  and  1750  guineas  for  '  Mrs.  Butler  nee 
Carwardine.'  Two  years  later  'Lady  Augusta  Murray,  Duchess  of 
Sussex,'  a  half-length,  brought  3800  guineas,  and  a  number  of  other 
examples  were  sold  for  what  were  then  considered  high  prices.  In 
1895  from  1650  to  2000  guineas  was  no  unusual  figure  for  a  good 
specimen,  but  all  such  amounts  were  entirely  eclipsed  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  when,  at  one  of  Messrs.  Robinson  and  Fisher's  sales,  the 
final  bid  for  the  famous  '  Beauty  and  the  Arts,'  belonging  to  Lord 
Clifden,  containing  portraits  of  the  owner's  great-grandmother  and 
her  sister,  Lady  Clifden  and  Lady  E.  Spencer,  daughters  of  the 
Duke  of  Marlborough,  was  the  astonishing  one  of  £11,025.  In  the 
same  year  the  beautiful  picture  of  the  two  little  daughters  of  Lord 
Chancellor  Thurlow,  now  in  the  Byers  collection  in  America, 
realised  2550  guineas,  and  a  number  of  other  canvases  surpassed 
that  amount. 
4 


PLATE  I 


.MRS.  GEORGE  RO.MNEV 

BY  PERMISSION  OF  MESSRS.   SHE  I' HERD  BROS. 

Pages  20-1,  182 


PLATE  II 


RICHARD  CUMBERLAND 

IN  THE  NATIONAL  1'ORTKAIT  GALLERY 

Fages  jq,  JJ2 


MARKET  PRICES   OF  HIS  WORKS 


During  the  past  ten  years  these  prices  have  often  been  more  than 
doubled  at  auctions,  and  trebled  and  even  quadrupled  in  more  private 
transactions,  whenever  collectors  with  long  purses  are  determined  to 
have  a  fine  set  of  fair  women  from  Romney's  brush  regardless  of  all 
considerations  of  cost.  At  the  Duke  of  Cambridge's  sale  in  1904,  the 
half-length  of  '  H.  R.  H.  Princess  Sophia  Matilda  of  Gloucester,'  which, 
painted  in  1791,  was  left  on  the  artist's  hands  unpaid  for,  and  some 
years  later  sold  by  John  Romney  to  Sir  William  Beechey  for  20 
guineas,  was  purchased  for  £4305.  There  is  no  need  to  multiply 
instances  ;  more  than  enough  of  them  have  been  given  to  show  with 
what  extraordinary  rapidity  Romney's  portraits  have  risen  again  in 
public  favour,  and  to  what  great  lengths  rival  collectors  will  go,  so 
that  to-day  it  causes  no  surprise  when  an  exceptionally  fine  example 
reaches  a  sum  of  five  figures  before  the  eager  amateur  of  his  works 
is  able  to  possess  himself  of  it.  Under  these  conditions  it  is  small 
wonder  that  many  owners  of  Romney's  pictures  have  not  hesitated  to 
imitate  Charles  Surface  in  knocking  down  their  ancestors  to  the  highest 
bidder.  Such  a  temptation  must  often  prove  to  be  irresistible ;  and 
so  from  more  than  one  old  country-house  the  family  portraits  have 
discreetly  vanished  to  find  a  second  home  in  one  of  the  more  modern 
mansions  of  the  aristocracy  of  wealth.  However  much  one  may 
regret  this  gradual  breaking  up  of  many  of  the  private  collections 
of  England,  and  the  spiriting  away  of  masterpieces  to  America, 
such  a  course  on  the  part  of  those  who  possess  works  so  eagerly 
sought  after,  and  so  extravagantly  valued,  is  not  surprising,  for 
the  inducement  held  out  is,  undoubtedly,  one  of  the  strongest 
nature. 

In  this  way  Romney,  who,  while  he  lived,  was  one  of  the  most 
popular  portrait-painters  of  his  day,  and,  for  years  after  his  death  one 
of  the  least  considered,  has  been  placed  in  recent  years  on  so  high  a 
pinnacle,  that  the  great  and  outstanding  abilities  upon  which  his  claim 
to  a  place  in  the  ranks  of  great  painters  must  rest  are  in  danger  of 
again  suffering  total  or  at  least  partial  eclipse  ;  for  the  lovers  of  good 
painting,  exasperated  by  the  exaggerated  reputation  he  holds  in  the 
markets,  and  irritated  by  injudicious  and  uncritical  praise,  and  this 
fierce  fight  for  the  possession  of  rows  of  pretty  faces,  show  an  inclina- 
tion to  go  to  the  other  extreme.  Already  a  tendency  to  over-emphasise 
the  painter's  faults  at  the  expense  of  the  many  fine  qualities  which  are 
to  be  found  in  his  work,  shows  itself  in  their  criticisms ;  and  in  this 
way  the  pendulum  may  swing  again,  and  just  as  violently,  in  the 

5 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


opposite  direction.  It  should  be  the  business,  then,  of  the  earnest 
student  to  make  an  attempt  to  find  Romney's  true  and  permanent 
position  both  with  regard  to  his  contemporaries  and  to  his  successors, 
without,  on  the  one  hand,  too  careful  a  consideration  of  his  present 
value  in  the  money  market,  or  too  easy  a  surrender  of  the  judgment 
before  the  extraordinary  charm  and  captivating  sweetness  of  his 
sympathetic  renderings  of  womanly  beauty  and  youthful  grace ;  and 
on  the  other  hand,  without  being  influenced  unduly  by  the  pronounce- 
ments of  those  who  would  relegate  him  to  a  quite  minor  position  in 
the  school  of  English  painting,  as  one  whose  work  lacks  many  of  the 
higher  qualities  of  art,  and  only  pleases  by  the  dexterity  of  its  handling, 
and  its  power  of  expressing  a  delightful  though  superficial  convention 
of  prettiness,  devoid  of  any  real  insight  into  character,  and  clothed  in 
only  an  empty  elegance. 


6 


II 


GEORGE  ROMNEY'S  great-grandfather  was  a  'statesman,'  or 
yeoman  proprietor,  in  the  village  of  Colby,  near  Appleby,  and 
his  small  estate  was  inherited  by  his  son  George,  the  artist's 
grandfather.  The  latter  left  W estmorland  at  an  early  age,  owing  to  the 
disturbed  condition  of  that  district  during  the  years  of  the  Civil  War,  and, 
after  a  short  period  spent  in  Lancaster,  moved  across  the  sandy  estuary  of 
Morecambe  Bay,  and  settled  down  for  life  in  the  peninsula  known  as 
Furness.  He  came  of  a  good,  sturdy  stock,  and  had  reached  the  ripe 
age  of  sixty  before  he  married,  but  lived  to  rear  a  family  of  twelve  and 
to  see  his  own  grandchildren  before  dying  at  ninety-six.  His  younger 
brother,  William,  venturing  further  from  home,  went  with  the  army 
of  King  William  into  Ireland,  where  he  fought  at  the  battle  of  the 
Boyne,  eventually  settling  near  Cork,  as  steward  to  Lord  Inchiquin. 
Either  he  or  one  of  his  descendants  married  a  member  of  the  Inchi- 
quin family,  and  Romneys  may  still  be  encountered  in  that  part  of  the 
world.  Other  branches  of  the  family  remained  in  Westmorland,  and 
the  name  is  to  day  not  uncommon  in  that  county,  and  the  adjacent 
ones  of  Cumberland  and  Lancashire.  The  customary  spelling  of  it 
was  Rumney,  and  the  artist  himself  was  the  first  to  alter  it  permanently 
to  Romney.  In  signing  the  indenture  which  apprenticed  him  to 
Christopher  Steele  in  1755  he  still  used  the  older  form,  and  in  1763, 
the  year  in  which  he  first  exhibited  in  London,  with  the  Free  Society 
of  Artists,  his  name  is  given  in  the  catalogue  as  Rumney. 

Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  in  his  book  on  the  artist,  adopts  the  theory 
of  Mr.  A.  W.  Rumney,  of  Millfell,  in  Watermillock,  Cumberland, 
that  the  name  is  derived  from  '  Romany,'  and  that  all  the  Romneys  or 
Rumneys  are  descended  from  gipsies,  who  flourished  in  the  border 
counties  in  the  old  days,  attracted  thither,  among  other  reasons,  by 
the  facilities  the  district  offered  of  escaping  from  justice,  which  was 
pitiless  where  vagrants  and  '  Egyptians  '  were  concerned,  by  the  simple 
device  of  striking  tents  and  slipping  into  Scotland  or  back  into 
England  as  occasion  necessitated.    Some  of  these  gipsies  would  settle 

7 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


down  in  course  of  time  to  more  reputable  pursuits  as  ordinary  villagers 
or  small  landowners,  and  would  at  first  be  known  to  their  neighbours 
as  Romanys,  until  in  the  end  it  became  their  recognised  surname. 
There  may  be  some  truth  in  this  theory.  Certainly  the  name  is  far 
from  uncommon  on  the  border,  and  in  more  than  one  case  can  be 
traced  back  through  several  centuries.  The  ancestors  of  Mr.  Rumney, 
who  suggests  this  derivation,  have  owned  the  Millfell  estate  for  more 
than  three  hundred  years,  but  are  in  no  way  connected  with  the  family 
of  the  artist. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  painter's  great-grandson,  Mr.  Lawrence 
Romney,  has  little  faith  in  the  '  gipsy '  theory,  though  undoubtedly 
many  members  of  the  family  have  possessed  the  wandering,  restless 
spirit  of  that  race.  The  name  lias  always  been  pronounced  as  though 
spelt  with  the  '  u,'  in  contradistinction  to  the  '  o  '  sound  in  '  Romany.' 
A  certain  number  of  people  of  Celtic  origin  have  always  existed  in 
that  part  of  England,  and  it  is,  therefore,  more  likely  that  the  Romney 
family,  more  than  one  member  of  which  has  been,  while  others  still 
are,  decidedly  Celtic  in  appearance  and  disposition,  is  of  such  descent. 
But  however  this  may  be,  the  family  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  only 
comparatively  lowly  origin.  Dwellers  in  the  south  have  little  know- 
ledge of  how  fine  a  class  as  a  whole  is  that  of  the  Westmorland 
4  statesman,'  and  the  Romneys  were  no  exception  to  the  rule  ;  indeed, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  examine  the  existing  portraits  of  the  painter's 
brothers,  and  to  read  such  of  their  letters  as  remain  in  the  possession 
of  their  descendants,  to  see  that  they  came  of  a  family  of  more  than 
ordinary  gifts. 

The  painter's  father,  John  Romney,  a  native  of  Dalton-in-Furness, 
was  by  trade  a  carpenter,  joiner  and  cabinetmaker,  who  by  his  own 
exertions  had  built  up  by  degrees  a  business  of  some  importance.  He 
was  a  man  of  unusual  ability,  with  considerable  practical  knowledge  of 
architecture  and'  engineering,  and  a  taste  for  drawing ;  so  that  he  not 
only  designed  and  made  furniture,  but  on  occasion  acted  as  architect, 
and  carried  out  the  internal  decoration  in  some  of  the  more  important 
houses  in  the  district.  He  had,  too,  some  skill  in  mechanics,  and 
constructed  all  the  engines  which  were  used  for  pumping  out  the 
water  which  from  time  to  time  flooded  the  neighbouring  iron  mines. 
Like  Gainsborough's  brother  John,  he  was  a  born  'schemer,'  with  the 
difference  that  his  inventions  were  of  real  service,  whereas  John 
Gainsborough's  devices  resulted  in  little  else  but  the  wasting  of  money. 
Some  at  least  of  John  Romney's  inventions  were  of  practical  use,  so 
8 


HIS  FATHER,  JOHN  ROMNEY 


that  in  this  he  more  closely  resembled  Gainsborough's  clearer-headed 
brother,  Humphry. 

He  was  instrumental  in  introducing  spoke  wheels  for  carts  instead 
of  the  solid  clog  wheels  which  until  his  day  were  in  universal  use  in 
the  Furness  district,  and  he  also  made  some  important  improvements 
in  the  plough,  more  especially  by  the  invention  of  the  iron  mould- 
board,  with  which  he  was  the  first  to  essay  the  cultivation  of  his  own 
land.  He  even  went  as  far  as  to  attempt  a  plough  to  be  driven  by 
wind,  but  over  this  he  came  to  grief,  almost  as  badly  as  '  Schemer 
Jack '  did  over  his  flying-machine.  Not  contented  with  these  diverse 
interests,  he  was  also  an  experimental  agriculturist,  and  in  this  again 
was  in  advance  of  his  neighbours.  He  had  inherited  a  small  freehold 
farm  called  Beckside  from  his  father,  who  had  purchased  it  after  selling 
his  Appleby  estate,  and  here  he  introduced  various  improved  methods 
of  farming.  This  property  was  on  the  sea-coast,  with  a  stiff  clay  soil, 
and  he  was  the  first  to  discover  the  value  of  shell-fish  as  a  fertilising 
agent.  He  also  invented  a  machine  for  chopping  up  furze  or  whins, 
with  which,  mixed  with  straw,  he  fed  his  cattle  in  winter.  He  is  said, 
again,  to  have  been  the  first  cabinetmaker  in  the  district,  and  perhaps 
in  Lancashire,  to  make  use  of  the  new  wood,  mahogany,  for  he 
purchased  a  chest  of  this  material  brought  from  the  West  Indies  by  a 
sailor,  out  of  which  he  made  a  piece  of  furniture. 

He  was,  indeed,  in  all  ways  a  notable  person,  with  a  larger  library 
of  books  than  most  men  in  his  station  of  life,  and  considerable  scientific 
and  general  knowledge.  His  grandson,  John  Romney,  speaks  of  him, 
in  his  stilted  periods,  as  4  this  amiable  progenitor,  who  by  his  strict 
probity,  disinterestedness,  and  singleness  of  heart,  had  obtained  among 
his  acquaintance  the  characteristic  epithet,  honest ;  a  title  which  had 
also  been  conferred  upon  his  father  before  him  ; '  and  again  as  '  a  man 
of  mild  and  placid  manners,  retired  and  contemplative  in  his  habits, 
correctly  moral  in  his  conduct,  and  unaffectedly  pious.'  His  religious 
beliefs  were  characterised,  we  gather  from  the  same  source,  by  a  cautious 
tendency  to  be  on  the  safe  side  at  all  costs.  '  His  notions  of  religion 
were  just,  being  equally  remote  from  cold  philosophy  and  blind 
enthusiasm.  I  well  remember  his  saying,  though  then  a  mere  boy,  that 
it  was  our  interest  to  make  up  our  minds  to  the  faith  of  the  christian 
religion  ;  because,  if  it  should  not  prove  true,  we  were  still  benefited 
by  it ;  but  if  it  should,  of  which  there  was  no  good  reason  to  doubt, 
how  great  then  would  be  our  recompense  ! ' 

9 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


In  spite  of  his  ingenuity,  his  habits  of  hard  work  and  a  business  of 
considerable  extent,  his  means  were  always  modest,  for  he  lacked  those 
qualities  which  go  to  the  making  of  worldly  success.  Here  again,  there 
is  some  resemblance  between  the  Romney  and  Gainsborough  families, 
for  John  Gainsborough,  the  artist's  father,  suffered  many  losses  through 
carelessness  in  the  management  of  his  affairs,  and  his  readiness  to 
forgive  and  forget  a  debt.  In  the  same  way  John  Romney  had  too 
implicit  a  belief  in  other  people's  honesty,  and  was  always  more  occupied 
with  the  work  upon  which  he  was  engaged  at  the  moment,  than  with 
the  profits  to  be  gained  by  it.  His  grandson  infers  that  even  if  he  had 
been  more  business-like  in  his  habits,  he  would  still,  in  all  probability, 
have  wasted  his  money  upon  expensive  experiments.  He  managed, 
however,  to  give  each  member  of  his  numerous  family  a  respectable 
education,  and  to  leave  something  for  division  among  those  of  them 
who  survived  him.  To  George,  the  eldest  son  at  the  time  of  his 
decease,  he  bequeathed  his  small  property  of  Upper  Cocken  in  Furness. 

He  married  Ann  Simpson,  the  daughter  of  a  '  statesman '  in  Cumber- 
land, who  owned  the  estate  of  Sladebank,  in  Millom.  She  came  of  a 
'  genteel  family,'  says  Hayley.  Her  mother,  Bridget  Park,  of  Millwood, 
near  Dalton,  was  a  granddaughter  of  Thomas  Park,  High  Constable 
of  Furness  from  1642  to  1647,  who  wrote  a  history  of  the  events  which 
took  place  in  that  district  during  the  Civil  War.  Mrs.  Romney  was  a 
clever,  capable  woman,  who  might  have  been  of  real  help  to  her  husband 
in  his  business  if  the  cares  of  her  household  hadjnot  occupied  the  whole 
of  her  time.  Her  grandson  puts  the  case  in  a  nutshell  when  he  says 
that  '  the  important  duties  of  a  mother  claimed  her  undivided  attention.' 
They  had  eleven  children,  ten  sons  and  one  daughter,  most  of  whom 
died  in  childhood  or  early  manhood.  The  eldest  son,  William,  was  a 
clever  youth,  who  was  intended  for  a  University  career,  and  so  received 
a  better  education  than  his  brothers.  It  was  decided  that  he  should 
enter  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  but,  being  of  an  adventurous  spirit, 
and  attracted  by  the  glamour  of  the  West  Indies,  whither  several  of  his 
acquaintances  had  gone,  he  abandoned  scholarship  in  favour  of  a  business 
career.  He  was  apprenticed  to  a  wealthy  merchant  in  Lancaster,  and 
was  sent  out  to  the  firm's  house  in  the  Islands  in  1762,  dying  six  years 
later  at  Dominica,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven.  He  was  accompanied 
by  a  younger  brother  Lawrence,  who  died  at  Antigua  in  1772,  aged 
thirty -five. 

Another  brother,  James,  born  in  1745,  entered  the  service  of  the 
East  India  Company,  and  made  for  himself  an  honourable  reputation 
10 


HIS  BROTHERS 


and  position,  eventually  rising  to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel.  He 
was  highly  respected  both  in  his  professional  and  private  capacity,  and 
was  a  man  of  some  taste,  fond  of  scribbling  verses,  and  '  trifling  agree- 
ably on  the  violin.'  He  left  behind  him  a  number  of  unpublished 
manuscripts,  including  several  comedies  and  an  account  of  the  siege  of 
Dharwar.  He  owed  his  start  in  life  to  his  artist  brother,  who  provided 
the  necessary  funds  for  his  outfit  and  initial  expenditure,  at  a  time 
when  money  was  harder  to  gain  than  it  was  later  in  his  career ;  but 
Romney  felt  amply  repaid  by  his  brother's  success,  and  the  two  always 
held  each  other  in  affectionate  regard.  Colonel  Romney  died  in  Bath 
in  1807,  and  was  buried  in  Bath  Abbey. 

A  fourth  brother,  Peter,  possessed  talents  of  no  mean  order,  and 
at  one  time  promised  to  rival  his  famous  brother  as  an  artist ;  but 
his  character  was  weak,  and  his  career,  which  was  marked  by  much 
distress  and  misery,  was  cut  short  by  an  early  death,  which  habits  of 
intemperance  had  helped  to  hasten.  He  was  fond  of  poetry  and  music  ; 
and,  judging  by  his  letters,  had  considerable  power  of  literary  expres- 
sion.   He  died  at  Stockport  in  1777,  at  the  age  of  thirty -four.1 

1  For  more  complete  details  of  the  Romney  family  see  Appendix  I. 


11 


Ill 


GEORGE  ROMNEY,  the  third  child  and  second  son  of  John 
and  Ann  Romney,  was  born  at  Beckside,  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  town  of  Dalton,  in  Furness,  on  December  15th  (old  style), 
1734.  Part  of  the  house  is  still  standing  near  the  present  railway  station. 
Furness  is  that  corner  of  Lancashire,  north  and  west  of  Morecambe  Bay, 
which  lies  between  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  and  is  also  known 
as  North  Lonsdale.  There  is  a  High  and  Low  Furness ;  Whitestock, 
the  estate  Romney  bought  in  his  old  age,  Hawkshead  and  Coniston 
being  in  the  former,  and  Barrow,  Dalton  and  Ulverston  in  the  latter. 
Much  of  the  land  in  Furness  at  one  time  belonged  to  the  rich  and 
powerful  Furness  Abbey. 

His  education  was  somewhat  scanty.  When  quite  a  little  lad,  he 
was  sent  to  the  village  of  Dendron,  two  or  three  miles  from  Beck- 
side,  where  he  boarded  with  some  friends  of  the  Romney  family 
named  Gardner,  and  attended  a  school  kept  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fell. 
This  entailed  no  great  drain  upon  his  father's  resources,  as  the  fees 
were  only  five  shillings  a  quarter,  and  his  board  and  lodgings  cost 
less  than  five  pounds  a  year.  His  school-days,  however,  came  to  an 
end  when  he  was  eleven  years  old,  either  because  he  showed  no  great 
ability  or  fondness  for  his  books,  or  from  his  father's  wish  to  have  him 
back  at  home.  In  1742  John  Romney  had  sold  Beckside,  and  had 
purchased  a  small  estate  in  the  same  parish  called  Upper  Cocken, 
about  a  mile  west  of  Furness  Abbey ;  and  to  this  new  home  young 
George  came  on  leaving  Dendron. 

The  house  was  built  on  a  kind  of  terrace,  looking  west  over 
Walney  Channel  and  Island,  and  commanding  a  wide  view  of  the 
Irish  Sea,  while  from  the  hill  immediately  behind  the  prospect  was  a 
magnificent  one.  On  the  south  was  the  wide  bay  of  Morecambe,  and 
to  the  north  the  estuary  of  Duddon,  which  when  the  tide  is  full  has  all 
the  appearance  of  a  fine  lake.  To  the  north-west  rose  the  dark  moun- 
tain, Black  Combe,  and  still  further  north,  the  pointed  crest  of  Scawfell 
and  other  hills.  The  view  to  the  south-west  is  to-day  marred  by  the 
12 


HIS   BOYHOOD   AND  EDUCATION 


smoke  from  the  chimneys  and  furnaces  of  Hindpool,  Barrow,  but  in 
Romney's  day  it  was  one  of  great  charm.  Such  scenery,  seen  daily, 
and  under  all  conditions  of  weather,  must  have  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  the  boy,  and  implanted  in  him  that  love  of  nature  which  was  one 
of  his  most  marked  characteristics.  Its  influence  is  to  be  seen  in  more 
than  one  of  his  pictures,  such  as  the  early  '  King  Lear  in  the  Storm,'  or 
the  later  '  Tempest,'  and  the  recollection  of  the  sea-view  from  Upper 
Cocken  can  be  discerned  in  the  background  of  many  of  his  portraits. 

His  education  was,  no  doubt,  continued  to  some  extent  under  his 
father's  supervision,  as  the  cabinet-maker  had  a  love  of  books,  and  a  thirst 
for  knowledge ;  but  almost  from  the  beginning  the  boy  was  also  taught 
the  rudiments  of  the  business,  and  gradually  grew  to  be  of  some  assist- 
ance in  the  workshop.  Hayley  says  that  by  the  time  he  was  twelve  he 
was  consulted  by  his  father  as  to  the  details  of  all  work  in  hand,  though 
this  seems  improbable,  and  that  he  helped  to  superintend  the  work- 
people. He  continued  to  be  employed  in  this  way  until  he  reached 
his  twenty-first  year,  though  few  definite  details  of  this  period  of  his 
life  have  been  recorded.  He  acquired  some  facility  in  wood-carving, 
and  the  cutting  of  little  figures,  and  became  skilful  enough  with  the 
chisel  to  make  himself  a  fiddle,  which  he  ornamented  with  his  own 
designs.  Hayley  adds  that  he  inherited  something  of  his  father's 
ingenuity  in  the  invention  of  mechanical  contrivances. 

Little,  again,  is  known  of  the  way  in  which  his  artistic  genius  first 
began  to  show  itself,  but  in  all  probability  it  received  its  first  impulse 
from  his  father,  whose  business  required  a  knowledge  of  drawing  and 
the  designing  of  ornaments.  It  would  be  only  natural  that  he  should 
wish  to  teach  his  son  what  little  of  draughtsmanship  he  himself  knew  in 
order  that  he  might  gain  a  mastery  of  the  trade,  and  in  due  time  take 
his  place  as  the  head  of  the  business. 

Hayley,  in  suggesting  the  cause  which  first  turned  Romney's 
thoughts  more  seriously  towards  art  as  a  pursuit,  tells  a  story  which 
has  done  service  in  the  early  history  of  more  than  one  famous  painter. 
In  attempting  to  describe  a  stranger  of  somewhat  unusual  appearance 
whom  he  had  seen  in  church,  young  Romney  found  it  impossible  to  do 
so  adequately  in  words ;  so,  seizing  a  pencil,  with  a  few  rapid  strokes 
he  produced  a  likeness  so  life-like  that  his  parents  were  both  amazed 
and  delighted,  and  their  praise,  which,  no  doubt,  through  affection  for 
the  young  artist,  was  more  lavish  than  critical,  gave  him  the  first  seri- 
ous push  along  the  road  he  was  bound,  sooner  or  later,  to  take.  On 
the  other  hand,  according  to  Richard  Cumberland,  it  was  one  of  his 

13 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


father's  cabinet-makers,  a  certain  Sam  Knight,  who  must  be  regarded 
as  his  artistic  godfather,  for  he  lent  the  boy  a  magazine  containing 
engravings  which  George  copied.  Cumberland  speaks  of  Knight  as 
'this  unconscious  patron  of  the  arts,  and  founder,  as  he  may  be  called, 
of  the  fortunes  of  our  Painter ' — a  somewhat  laughable  exaggeration, 
which  both  Hayley  and  John  Romney  ridicule  in  their  biographies. 
His  father  was  a  subscriber  to  the  Universal  Magazine,  and  George 
may  have  copied  some  of  the  cuts  with  which  it  was  illustrated,  chiefly 
portraits  and  armorial  bearings ;  but  the  small  family  library  contained 
a  book  of  much  greater  value  to  a  youth  whose  artistic  impulses  were 
already  beginning  to  strive  to  find  expression.  This  was  a  translation 
of  Leonardo  da  Vinci's  Treatise  on  Painting,  which  contained  a  number 
of  good  engravings. 

Such  a  work,  from  the  pen  of  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  painting, 
must  have  had  considerable  influence  over  the  mind  of  the  youthful 
Romney,  and  from  its  study,  no  doubt,  his  first  inkling  of  the  true 
principles  of  art  was  obtained.  That  he  valued  the  book  is  shown, 
perhaps,  by  the  fact  that  he  twice  inscribed  his  name  in  it,  in  1754  and 
1755,  and  in  each  case  surmounted  the  signature  with  an  ornamental 
design.  Another  book  in  which  his  name  occurs,  again  in  a  decorative 
setting,  is  a  copy  of  Le  Brun's  Passions,  dated  1755.  His  father  also 
possessed  a  small  volume  called  Art's  Masterpiece,  which  gave  practical 
instruction  in  painting  and  the  making  and  grinding  of  colours. 

According  to  the  Rev.  John  Romney,  the  boy's  determination  to 
become  a  painter  was  greatly  fostered  by  Mrs.  Gardner,  the  sister  of  a 
business  friend  of  the  elder  Romney,  Alderman  Redman,  an  upholsterer 
of  Kendal.  It  was  probably  in  her  house  that  George  lived  while 
attending  the  Dendron  school.  During  a  visit  paid  to  Upper  Cocken, 
she  was  greatly  interested  in  the  drawings  the  boy  had  made,  and 
encouraged  him  by  every  means  to  cultivate  his  talents.  One  of  his 
earliest  attempts  in  portraiture  was  a  likeness  of  this  lady,  who  declared 
that  '  he  had  a  brilliant  genius,  capable  of  acquiring  great  lustre  in  the 
profession  of  a  painter ' ;  and  to  her,  says  his  son,  '  the  world  is  chiefly 
indebted  for  eliciting  the  hidden  sparks  of  his  genius.'  In  after  years, 
her  own  son,  Daniel  Gardner,  studied  for  a  time  under  Romney  at 
Kendal,  and  became  a  portrait-painter  in  crayons  of  no  small  repute. 

The  man,  however,  who  had  the  greatest  influence  upon  Romney  at 
this  period  of  his  life  was  a  certain  John  Williamson,  then  living  in 
Dalton,  and  working  as  a  watchmaker.    By  all  accounts  he  was  a  man 
of  exceptional  talents,  and  was  attracted  by  the  signs  of  genius  even 
14 


PLATE  HI 


) 


MRS.  YATES 

IN  THE  COT. LECTION  OF  LORD  LLANGATTOCIC 

....  PaS'  S7 


PLATE  IV 


WILLIAM  HAYLEY 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  MR.   C.   FAIRFAX  MURRAY 

Pages  331-2 


HIS  LOVE   OF  MUSIC 


then  apparent  in  the  boy.  This  '  intimate  friend  of  an  elevated  and 
accomplished  spirit,'  as  Hayley  describes  him,  was  devoted  to  music, 
and  taught  his  young  friend  to  play  the  violin.  On  one  occasion  they 
made  together  a  memorable  journey  to  Whitehaven  to  hear  the  great 
Felice  Giardini.  It  was  this  famous  violinist  who  so  enraptured 
Gainsborough,  and  his  playing  had  a  like  effect  upon  Romney,  who,  for 
some  little  time  after  hearing  him  perform,  hesitated  whether  to  make 
music  or  painting  his  profession.  Music,  indeed,  has  had  an  irresistible 
charm  for  more  than  one  great  painter.  John  Constable  sternly  turned 
his  back  upon  its  subtle  fascination,  because  he  feared  that  it  would 
stand  in  the  way  of  his  master-ambition  of  becoming  a  famous  artist. 
Gainsborough's  boundless  enthusiasm  for  every  musical  instrument  he 
chanced  to  hear  played  by  a  master-hand  is  well  known.  He  not  only 
collected  them  regardless  of  cost,  but  also  learnt  to  play  upon  them  with 
more  or  less  skill,  and  snatched  many  an  hour  from  his  easel  for  this 
purpose.  The  musical  parties  in  which  Romney  took  his  share  at 
Williamson's  house  had  their  counterpart  in  the  Club  which  held  its 
meetings  in  Ipswich  at  about  the  same  date,  merry  concerts  in  which 
Gainsborough's  fiddle  took  a  leading  share.  To  some  extent  Romney 
retained  his  love  of  the  sister  art  throughout  his  life.  Up  to  the  last 
he  kept  a  violin  of  his  own  making  in  his  studio,  and  now  and  then 
played  upon  it  when  thinking  out  the  design  for  a  picture,  finding  in 
music,  as  others  have  done,  a  stimulus  to  his  imagination. 

His  son  says  that  it  was  often  his  habit,  when  stepping  back  to  see 
the  effect  of  his  painting,  to  pick  up  this  fiddle,  and  '  amuse  himself  by 
carelessly  flourishing  with  some  favourite  air,  till  a  new  idea,  or  altera- 
tion, came  across  his  mind.'  Cumberland  tells  the  same  tale,  with  an 
effort  to  be  amusing,  and  with  no  little  exaggeration  as  to  the  extent 
of  Romney 's  violin-building  : — 

'  Smitten  also  with  an  embryo  passion  for  the  concord  of  sweet 
sounds,  which  he  had  probably  never  heard  but  in  his  dreams,  he  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  transplanting  the  arts  of  Cremona  to  his  native  town 
of  Dalton,  and  began  a  manufactory  of  violins,  which  he  disposed  of  to 
the  rural  amateurs,  who  were,  perhaps,  as  little  instructed  in  the  use  of 
those  instruments  as  he  had  been  in  the  formation  of  them.  The  worst 
among  them,  however,  made  a  noise,  that  we  may  suppose  amused  the 
children,  and  sounded  forth  the  fame  of  the  operator  through  the 
neighbouring  cottages ;  they  served,  likewise,  the  further  and  better 
purpose  of  putting  a  little  money  into  the  pocket  of  the  needy  and 
ingenious  projector.     He  did  not,  however,  whilst  thus  providing 

15 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 

instruments  of  melody  for  others,  forget  himself;  for  whilst  he  was 
practising  the  art  of  making  fiddles,  he  was  studying  that  of  perform- 
ing on  them  ;  and  having  finished  one  of  superior  workmanship,  he 
kept  it  by  him  as  a  chef-d'oeuvre  to  the  day  of  his  death.  Upon  this 
violin  the  writer  of  these  memoirs  has  heard  the  maker  of  it  perform 
in  a  room  hung  round  with  pictures  of  his  own  painting ;  which  is 
rather  a  singular  coincidence  of  arts  in  the  person  of  one  man.  The 
tones  of  this  instrument  seemed  to  be  extremely  good,  and  there  was 
some  light  carved  work  that  spread  from  the  setting  in  of  the  neck 
over  part  of  the  back,  very  curiously  executed.' 

The  violin,  carefully  preserved  by  the  Romney  family  until  1894, 
was  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  painter's  own  making  ;  but  "the  experts 
who  examined  it  at  Miss  Romney  s  sale  were  of  opinion  that  it  was  of 
Italian  workmanship.  It  was,  therefore,  in  all  probability  one  which 
he  brought  back  with  him  to  England  in  1775,  together  with  an  inlaid 
cabinet,  and  a  few  other  Italian  works  of  art. 

The  '  ingenious  but  unfortunate  '  Williamson,  before  he  moved  from 
Whitehaven  to  Dalton,  had  been,  according  to  Hayley,  a  gentleman  of 
some  small  fortune.  He  was  devoted  to  the  study  of  natural  philosophy, 
mechanics  and  alchemy,  and  had  a  certain  gift  for  drawing,  which  gave 
the  two  friends  another  taste  in  common.  Romney  always  spoke  of 
him  later  in  life  with  high  appreciation.  He  was  attracted,  as  was 
natural  in  a  boy,  by  his  alchemistic  pursuits,  but  had  the  good  sense  to 
abandon  them  when  he  perceived  their  futility.  Williamson  wasted 
much  time  and  money  in  an  attempt  to  make  gold.  Indeed,  it  was 
this  fondness  for  dabbling  in  the  '  black  arts '  that  brought  about  the 
final  ruin  of  his  domestic  happiness.  The  cumulative  experiments  of 
years  were  ruined,  so  the  story  runs,  by  the  blowing  up  of  his  furnace 
at  the  most  critical  moment  through  the  obstinacy  of  his  wife,  who 
insisted  that  he  should  leave  his  laboratory  in  order  to  help  her  enter- 
tain some  visitors.  This  so  enraged  the  gold-searcher  that  he  then  and 
there  deserted  her,  and  retired  to  Dalton  and  to  watchmaking.  'His 
memorable  history,'  says  the  sentimental  Hayley,  '  Romney  related  to 
me  with  affectionate  minuteness,  not  without  shedding  tears  of  grati- 
tude, in  describing  his  beneficial  kindness ;  and  tears  of  pity,  for  his 
calamitous  fate.' 

This  particular  incident  in  Williamson's  career  made  a  lasting  im- 
pression on  Romney,  and,  quite  at  the  end  of  his  life,  he  formed  a 
project,  which  came  to  nothing,  of  painting  a  series  of  pictures  to 
illustrate  the  adventures  of  an  alchemist  in  search  of  the  philosopher's 
16 


JOHN  WILLIAMSON'S  INFLUENCE 


stone,  culminating,  in  the  last  scene,  in  a  tremendous  explosion,  amid 
which  the  devil  was  to  appear  among  the  shattered  crucibles,  and  all  the 
glittering  visions  were  to  vanish  in  the  smoke. 

The  artist's  son,  however,  had  no  very  high  opinion  of  this  philo- 
sopher's character,  declaring  that,  though  clever,  he  was  a  bad  husband, 
and  that  after  leaving  his  wife  he  lived  at  Dalton  with  another  woman, 
by  whom  he  had  four  children,  and  whom  he  married  upon  the  death 
of  the  lady  he  had  left  behind  in  Whitehaven. 

It  is  extremely  improbable  that  this  unfortunate  example  of  matri- 
monial infelicity  had  any  influence  upon  Romney's  conduct  at  a  later 
period  of  his  life,  though  both  Hayley  and  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell  infer 
that  it  had  some  such  effect.  Everything  points  to  the  fact  that 
Romney's  desertion  of  his  wife  was  gradual  and  quite  unpremeditated. 


G.  R. — 2 


17 


IV 


BY  the  time  Romney  had  reached  the  age  of  twenty  he  was  fully 
determined  to  become  a  painter,  and  as  he  had  already  given 
many  signs  of  unusual  talent,  his  parents  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  would  be  wrong  to  thwart  him.  Mrs.  Gardner,  who  had  seen  how 
capable  he  was  with  his  pencil,  urged  that  this  step  should  be  taken  ; 
and  among  other  friends  who  believed  that  the  youth  gave  promise  of 
exceptional  powers,  were  Mr.  Lewthwaite,  of  Broadgate,  in  Millom,  a 
relative,  and  Mr.  Wright,  a  cabinet-maker  in  Lancaster,  to  whom, 
Hayley  says,  Romney  was  sent,  at  some  uncertain  date,  to  learn  the 
business.  Wright  was  greatly  struck  by  the  young  man's  cleverness 
in  drawing  portraits  of  his  fellow- workmen,  and  told  Robinson,  of 
Windermere,  who  afterwards  became  Romney 's  pupil,  that  he  had 
done  his  best  to  persuade  John  Romney  to  abandon  the  idea  of  bring- 
ing up  his  son  to  his  own  trade.  These  various  counsels  prevailed,  and 
it  was  finally  decided  that  George  should  become  a  portrait-painter. 

The  only  artist  then  in  the  immediate  district  was  a  certain 
Christopher  Steele,  a  travelling  portrait  painter,  who,  at  the  time  young 
Romney 's  future  fortunes  were  under  family  discussion,  was  at  work  in 
Kendal.  He  was  a  native  of  Egremont,  in  Cumberland,  and  had 
received  some  training  in  art  from  Richard  Wright,1  a  marine  painter, 
of  Liverpool,  followed  by  a  year's  study  in  Paris  in  the  studio  of  the 
fashionable  portrait  painter  Carle  van  Loo.  To  this  artist  George 
Romney  was  apprenticed  for  four  years,  for  the  sum  of  £21,  his 
indenture  being  dated  March  20th,  1755. 

Steele  was  only  a  year  or  two  older  than  his  apprentice,  and  in 
character  was  in  no  way  a  suitable  mentor  and  guide  for  an  impression- 
able youth.  He  had  brought  back  with  him  from  abroad  a  colourable 
imitation  of  the  fashionable  airs  and  graces  of  the  Parisians,  and  his 
manners,  in  consequence,  gained  for  him  from  the  stay-at-home,  staid 
dalesfolk  the  nickname  of  '  Count.'     He  was  a  true  Bohemian,  idle 

1  This  cannot  have  been  Richard  Wright,  the  marine  painter,  known  as  'Wright  of  the  Isle  of 
Man/  who  was  born  in  Liverpool  in  1735,  and  died  about  1775. 

18 


APPRENTICED  TO  STEELE 


when  possible,  gay  and  irresponsible,  gaining  a  preearious  living  by 
painting  portraits  at  a  few  guineas  a  head ;  constantly  in  debt,  and, 
when  his  liabilities  became  too  pressing,  flitting  away  to  some  fresh 
field,  where  his  engaging  manners  and  attractive  appearance,  coupled 
with  his  modest  fees,  soon  brought  him  fresh  sitters.  His  happy-go- 
lucky  disposition  and  extravagant  tastes  must  have  astonished  his 
young  pupil,  whose  upbringing  had  been  conducted  on  much  more  strict 
and  sober  lines.  His  portraits  are  quite  unknown  to-day,  but  he  was  far 
from  being  the  '  itinerant  dawber  '  Richard  Cumberland  styled  him. 
According  to  a  friend  of  Hayley's,  his  pictures  '  discovered  sound 
principles  of  art,'  while  Romney  himself  found  him  '  eccentric  in  his 
talents  and  character,  but  far  from  wanting  attractions,  either  as  an 
artist  or  a  companion,'  and  considered  that  his  portraits  were  as  good  as 
anything  Hudson  painted. 

The  apprenticeship  was,  at  first,  not  altogether  to  Romney 's  liking. 
It  took  him  some  time  to  accustom  himself  to  the  habits  of  his  master, 
and,  desirous  above  all  things  of  making  rapid  strides  in  the  practice  of 
the  art  to  which  he  was  already  so  devoted,  he  found  it  not  a  little 
galling  to  be  set  tasks  which  he  regarded  as  menial.  Steele  employed 
him  upon  a  variety  of  odd  jobs,  such  as  the  grinding  of  colours,  and 
the  carving  of  frames,  and  kindred  drudgeries  of  the  studio.  Such 
work,  however,  was  regarded  as  part  of  the  training  of  a  pupil,  and 
there  is  little  doubt  that  the  technical  knowledge  of  the  preparation  and 
mixing  of  colours  he  gained  in  this  way  was  of  very  real  service  to  him 
afterwards,  and  was  one  of  the  reasons  why  so  many  of  his  pictures  still 
retain  their  original  freshness  of  colour  almost  entirely  unimpaired. 

In  spite  of  such  tasks,  Steele  imparted  to  him  by  degrees  all  the 
knowledge  of  painting  that  he  himself  possessed,  though  John  Romney 
insinuates,  somewhat  unkindly,  that  he  did  this  more  with  the  purpose 
of  serving  his  own  ends,  by  training  his  pupil  until  he  had  skill  enough 
to  complete  his  own  unfinished  work,  than  from  any  sense  of  duty  or 
appreciation  of  his  responsibility  as  a  master ;  but  he  is  forced  to  allow 
that  the  instruction  thus  given  was  of  real  service  to  Romney,  and  that 
there  was  '  even  in  his  earliest  productions,  a  singular  clearness  and 
sweetness  of  tone  in  the  colouring,  far  beyond  what  might  have  been 
expected  from  so  young  an  artist.' 

Some  little  time  after  Romney  joined  him,  the  dashing  '  Count ' 
was  more  occupied  with  love-making  than  with  art.  He  became 
enamoured  of  a  young  lady  of  Kendal,  attracted  by  her  charms  or  by 

19 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


her  fortune,  or  an  irresistible  combination  of  the  two.  Her  relations, 
not  unnaturally,  took  the  strongest  exception  to  these  pretensions  on 
the  part  of  a  wandering  painter ;  but  Steele,  with  his  fascinating 
manners,  was  able  to  persuade  her  to  banish  all  scruples  and  to  run 
away  with  him  to  Gretna  Green.  History  does  not  relate  whether 
they  were  pursued  by  an  irate  father  in  the  approved  eighteenth- 
century  fashion  ;  in  any  case  the  couple  reached  their  destination  in 
safety,  and  were  duly  married.  Throughout  this  intrigue  Romney  was 
employed  in  the  not  very  honourable  service  of  a  go-between,  carrying 
messages  and  notes,  and  helping  in  the  arrangements  for  the  final  flight 
to  the  north. 

So  lightly  did  Steele  regard  the  duties  he  had  bound  himself  to 
fulfil,  that  he  did  not  scruple  to  leave  his  young  apprentice  behind,  for 
the  purpose  of  doing  what  he  could  to  appease  both  justly  incensed 
guardians  and  angry  creditors,  and  to  finish  any  portraits  that  might 
be  in  hand. 

Romney,  no  doubt,  came  in  for  more  than  his  fair  share  of  blame 
and  abuse,  and,  according  to  Hayley,  this  so  troubled  him  that  he  fell 
into  a  violent  fever,  which  nearly  proved  fatal ;  but  was  nursed  back 
to  life  by  the  devoted  care  of  the  daughter  of  his  landlady.  The 
natural  consequences  resulted,  and  the  young  couple  fell  in  love  with 
one  another,  Romney  finding  his  master's  example  infectious. 

The  son's  account  of  this,  the  first  step  in  the  domestic  tragedy  of 
the  painter's  life,  differs  somewhat  materially  from  Hayley's  version. 
He  mentions  no  illness,  but  infers  that  Romney,  then  at  a  most 
impressionable  age,  was  gradually  attracted  by  one  with  whom  he 
came  into  daily  contact,  and  that  this  feeling  in  time  deepened  into 
love.  This,  though  less  romantic,  seems  to  have  been  the  more  likely 
course  of  events.    In  any  case,  they  became  betrothed. 

They  were  of  the  same  rank  in  life.  Mary  Abbot,  whose  father 
had  died  when  she  was  a  child,  leaving  a  wife  and  two  small  daughters 
in  very  straitened  circumstances,  came  of  a  respectable  Kendal 
family.  She  was  seven  years  older  than  Romney,  being  twenty-eight 
when  he  married  her,  while  he  himself  had  only  recently  come  of  age. 
She  was  not  a  beautiful  woman,  if  one  may  judge  from  the  only  two 
portraits  of  her  in  existence,  both  very  early  examples  of  her  husband's 
skill.  One  of  them,  of  which  an  illustration  is  given  in  Lord  Ronald 
Sutherland  Gower's  book,  was  exhibited  at  the  rooms  of  the  Fine  Art 
Society  in  1905,  and  the  other  is  reproduced  here.1    Both  portraits 

1  See  Plate  i. 

20 


HIS   MARRIAGE   IN  175G 


remained  in  the  possession  of  the  artist's  family  for  many  years,  and 
one  of  them  was  included  in  Miss  Romney's  sale  in  1894.  The  former 
is  the  more  attractive  looking  of  the  two,  and  is  good  and  pure  in 
colouring ;  the  face,  which  is  a  sad  one,  is  rather  heavy  and  unintel- 
lectual ;  the  latter,  which  is  earlier  in  point  of  date,  is  less  pleasing  in 
expression,  but  is  of  extreme  interest  as  an  example  of  Romney's 
methods  of  portrait-painting  at  the  very  beginning  of  his  career.  It 
was  once  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  W alter  Sichel,  the  biographer  of 
Lady  Hamilton,  and  was  purchased  at  Christie's  by  Messrs.  Shepherd 
Bros,  a  few  years  ago.  Though  not  beautiful  in  features,  she  was 
graceful  in  figure,  and  the  vivid  imagination  of  the  young  painter 
endowed  her  with  charms  which,  perhaps,  faded  too  quickly  after 
marriage. 

Her  son  describes  her  by  saying  that  '  she  excelled  more  in 
symmetry  of  form  than  in  regularity  of  features ;  yet  in  this  latter 
particular  she  was  far  from  deficient.'  She  was  a  good  and  worthy 
woman,  and  what  little  is  known  of  her  points  to  unusual  qualities  of 
character  and  disposition.  She  had  been  trained  by  her  mother  upon 
strict  principles  of  morality  and  religion.  Certainly  she  possessed  a 
patience  far  greater  than  that  of  most  human  beings,  and  a  loyalty  and 
unselfishness  beyond  all  praise. 

Shortly  after  the  betrothal  Steele,  wisely  considering  that  the  air 
of  Kendal  would  not  agree  with  him  until  his  escapades  had  been  at 
least  partly  forgotten  and  forgiven,  sent  for  Romney  to  join  him  in 
York.  This  peremptory  summons  greatly  agitated  the  young  lovers. 
The  idea  of  an  immediate  parting  seemed  almost  unbearable,  as  there 
was  little  prospect  of  meeting  again  for  a  considerable  time,  perhaps 
for  some  years  ;  so  with  the  impetuosity  of  youth,  they  solved  the 
difficulty  by  quietly  getting  married. 

This  most  foolish  step — for  foolish  it  was,  as  Romney  had  not  the 
smallest  means  wherewith  to  keep  a  wife,  and  no  immediate  prospects 
of  an  income,  however  small — was  taken  on  October  14th,  1756,  a  few 
days  before  he  started  to  join  the  '  Count.'  Whether  Mrs.  Abbot  was 
consulted  or  not,  his  parents  at  Upper  Cocken  were  kept  in  ignorance 
until  the  two  were  man  and  wife,  and  were  naturally  extremely  angry 
at  so  rash  and  precipitate  a  step,  which  they  regarded  with  much  truth 
as  a  serious  impediment  to  their  son's  success  in  a  career  for  which  he 
had  as  yet  received  but  a  scanty  training,  and  knowing  full  well  that 
upon  them  would  fall  the  duty  of  providing  for  the  new  household. 
Romney,  with  a  certain  amount  of  reason  on  his  side,  excused  himself 

21 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


by  protesting  that  his  marriage  would  keep  him  out  of  mischief,  and 
would  cause  him  to  concentrate  himself  upon  his  work,  by  giving  him 
a  double  reason  for  making  haste  to  become  a  good  painter.  '  If  you 
consider  everything  deliberately,'  he  wrote,  somewhat  sententiously, 
to  his  father,  '  you  will  find  it  to  be  the  best  affair  that  ever  happened 
to  me ;  because,  if  I  have  fortune,  I  shall  make  a  better  painter  than  I 
should  otherwise  have  done ;  as  it  will  be  a  spur  to  my  application  : 
and  my  thoughts  being  now  still,  and  not  obstructed  by  youthful 
follies,  I  can  practise  with  more  diligence  and  success  than  ever.' 
What  reply  he  received  to  this  epistle,  which  probably  seemed  quite 
unconvincing  to  his  parents,  is  not  recorded,  nor  can  we  now  learn 
whether  he  was  soon  forgiven,  or  remained  more  or  less  in  disgrace  for 
some  little  time. 

Whatever  his  father  might  think  of  the  unwisdom  of  such  a  course, 
Romney 's  own  son  fully  approved  both  the  act  and  the  arguments. 
'  I  have  no  doubt  myself,'  he  says,  '  but  it  was  highly  advantageous  to 
his  professional  pursuits,  and  contributed  essentially  to  his  future 
excellence.  His  affections  and  feelings  being  thus  gratified  and  his 
mind  at  ease,  he  devoted  himself  to  his  art  with  the  most  determined 
industry.' 

Master  and  pupil  remained  in  York  for  the  greater  part  of  a  year. 
Romney  worked  very  hard,  and  made  considerable  progress,  while 
Steele,  now  safely  married  and  for  a  time  unharassed  by  creditors,  and 
less  occupied  in  devising  schemes  for  the  hoodwinking  of  bailiffs,  made 
a  serious  attempt  to  carry  out  his  contract  and  to  teach  the  young 
apprentice  all  he  knew.  The  most  notable  personage  who  sat  to  the 
'  Count '  in  York  was  Laurence  Sterne,  then  vicar  of  Sutton-on-the- 
Forest,  and  not  yet  famous  as  the  author  of  Tristram  Shandy,  of  which 
the  first  two  volumes  were  written  in  1759  and  published  in  the 
January  of  the  following  year.  He  is  said  to  have  taken  some  interest 
in  Romney,  though  there  is  no  record  that  the  latter  attempted  to 
paint  the  great  man's  portrait. 

Cumberland,  in  the  memoir  of  the  painter  he  contributed  to  the 
European  Magazine,  in  the  writing  of  which  his  imagination  was 
allowed  freer  play  than  was  consistent  with  accurate  biographical 
truth,  says:  'Laurence  Sterne  was  then  living  in  York,  and  having 
seen  some  paintings  of  the  apprentice  very  different  from  those  of  the 
master,  immediately  pronounced  upon  their  merit,  and  took  the  rising 
artist  decidedly  into  his  favour  and  protection.  The  praise  bestowed  by 
Sterne  was  a  passport  that  laid  open  all  the  barriers  that  might  else 
22 


WITH  STEELE   IN  YORK  AND  LANCASTER 


have  retarded  our  adventurer  in  his  efforts,  and  lifted  him  into  notice 
and  celebrity  at  once.  There  were  now  found  numbers  that  echoed 
the  opinion  of  Sterne,  and  prognosticated,  at  second  hand,  from 
example,  what  he  had  originally  discovered  from  intuition.  A  prefer- 
ence so  marked  soon  roused  the  jealousy  of  Count  Steele,  and,  in  place 
of  lessons,  altercations  now  ensued  between  the  master  and  his 
apprentice,  and  ultimately  created  such  a  disagreement  that  they 
proceeded  to  separation.'  There  is  little  truth  in  this  statement.  At 
the  time  when  Sterne  was  visiting  the  studio  for  the  purpose  of  his 
portrait,  Steele  must  have  been  much  the  better  painter  of  the  two, 
and  the  work  of  his  pupil  would  receive  but  little  consideration  from 
sitters.  Sterne,  no  doubt,  showed  him  some  kindly  recognition,  but 
that  '  he  lifted  him  into  notice  and  celebrity '  is  quite  untrue.  Some 
years  were  still  to  elapse  before  the  young  painter  was  to  emerge  from 
obscurity  and  become  known  by  name  even  in  the  restricted  district  in 
the  north  of  England  through  which  he  went  backwards  and  forwards 
painting  portraits  for  a  few  guineas  apiece. 

Romney,  however  hard  he  worked,  was  dependent  upon  Steele  for 
lodging,  dress,  and  pocket-money ;  but  his  affectionate  wife,  who 
remained  with  her  mother,  undergoing  on  the  very  threshold  of  her 
married  life  her  first  experience  of  that  enforced  absence  from  her 
husband  which  was  to  be  her  lot  for  nearly  forty  years,  managed  to 
send  him,  out  of  her  modest  savings,  an  occasional  half-guinea,  hidden 
within  the  seal  of  her  letters.  This  enabled  him  to  buy  prints,  which  at 
this  tiriie  he  was  in  the  habit  of  copying  in  oils  in  his  spare  moments, 
and  to  eke  out  what  must  have  been  a  somewhat  irregular  allowance 
from  his  master,  who  was  more  fond  of  borrowing  than  giving. 

From  York,  Steele  returned  to  Kendal,  leaving  Romney  behind 
for  a  few  weeks  to  finish  certain  portraits,  collect  the  money  for  them, 
and  to  settle  with  various  creditors  before  following  him.  Their  stay 
in  Kendal,  however,  was  of  short  duration,  and  a  move  was  made  to 
Lancaster  some  time  during  1757.  Here,  also,  commissions  were  very 
scarce,  and  the  restless  Steele  suggested  that  they  should  go  further 
afield,  and  try  Ireland  as  a  portrait-painting  ground.  Romney,  with  a 
young  wife  in  Kendal,  with  whom  as  yet  he  had  spent  but  a  few  days, 
was  naturally  most  strongly  opposed  to  such  a  voyage.  By  this  time, 
too,  brought  up  as  he  had  been  in  a  quiet,  God-fearing,  hard-working 
household,  he  had  grown  weary  of  the  gay,  irresponsible  manners  and 
habits  of  the  '  Count,'  and  the  roving,  homeless  life,  with  its  continual 
moving  from  one  place  to  another ;  and  the  shifty  dodges  to  make 

23 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


both  ends  meet,  and  to  pacify  angry  creditors,  had  become  hateful  to 
him.  He  had,  too,  with  his  habits  of  hard  work,  already  learnt  all 
that  Steele  could  teach  him  about  painting  ;  so  that,  all  things  con- 
sidered, he  felt  that  this  projected  visit  to  Dublin  was  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  a  final  parting. 

Although  his  indenture  had  still  two  years  to  run,  he  suggested 
that  it  should  be  cancelled,  offering  in  exchange  to  forgive  a  debt  of 
some  £10  which  he  had  lent  to  Steele  in  small  amounts  from  time  to 
time.  The  older  man  was  by  no  means  averse  to  this  arrangement, 
finding  that  an  apprentice,  however  useful  he  might  be  in  the  finishing 
of  neglected  work,  was  expensive  to  clothe  and  feed  when  clients  were 
scarce.  They  parted  company,  therefore,  in  the  most  friendly  spirit, 
and  Romney  was  left  behind,  his  own  master,  to  seek  his  fortunes  as 
a  painter  as  best  he  could,  after  a  short  two  years'  apprenticeship  to 
the  craft,  which  was  the  only  practical  instruction  he  ever  obtained. 

It  is  not  recorded  whether  he  consulted  his  father  before  so  abruptly 
terminating  the  period  of  his  pupilage,  but,  judging  from  his  indepen- 
dent action  with  regard  to  his  marriage,  it  is  probable  that  he  decided 
matters  for  himself.  In  any  case,  the  household  at  Upper  Cocken 
must  have  looked  upon  this  step  with  misgivings  as  grave  as  those 
with  which  they  had  regarded  his  rash  matrimonial  venture. 


24 


PLATE  V 


PLATE  VI 


V 


AFTER  leaving  Steele  in  1757,  Romney  rejoined  his  wife  in 
/-%      Kendal,  where  his  only  son,  John,  was  born  on  April  6th  in 
that  year,  and  began  his  independent  career  as  a  professional 
painter  ;  and  Kendal  remained  his  headquarters  for  the  next  few  years, 
though  he  paid  visits  from  time  to  time  to  Lancaster  and  other  towns 
in  the  district  in  his  search  for  work. 

According  to  information  given  by  Colonel  Romney  to  Hayley, 
shortly  after  leaving  Steele  he  spent  the  better  part  of  a  year  in 
Lancaster,  where  he  became  intimate  with  Adam  AValker,  the  philo- 
sopher and  schoolmaster.  '  For  my  own  part,'  Walker  wrote  to 
Hayley,  '  I  entertained  at  that  time  such  a  deference  for  his  taste  and 
opinions,  that  I  founded  my  own  upon  them,  and  we  became  insepar- 
able. Being  invited  to  Lancaster,  where  he  took  many  portraits,  we 
lodged  in  the  same  house,  where  I  was  often  his  layman,  while  he 
painted  the  death  of  Le  Fevre,  Dr.  Slop  with  Obadiah,  King  Lear 
with  Cordelia,  and  several  others.'  This  letter  proves  Colonel  Romney 
to  have  been  misinformed,  for  Tristram  Shandy  was  not  published 
until  January,  1760,  when  it  achieved  an  immediate  and  rather 
scandalous  success  in  York,  even  sooner  than  in  London,  so  that 
Romney 's  long  visit  to  Lancaster  must  have  taken  place  several  years 
after  he  so  abruptly  terminated  his  apprenticeship,  probably  in  1760 
or  1761. 

Adam  Walker,  who  was  Romney 's  senior  by  a  year  or  two,  was 
born  at  Patterdale,  Westmorland,  in  1730  or  1731.  He  was  the 
son  of  a  woollen  manufacturer,  and  though  taken  from  school  before 
he  could  read  properly,  succeeded  in  giving  himself  a  good  education. 
At  an  early  age  he  displayed  great  ingenuity  in  the  construction  of 
working  models  of  machinery.  When  fifteen  he  became  usher  at  a 
school  in  Ledsham,  Yorkshire,  and  three  years  later  was  writing  and 
arithmetic  master  at  the  Free  School  in  Macclesfield.  Later  on  he 
travelled  about  the  country  lecturing  on  astronomy  and  natural 
philosophy,  after  keeping  a  school  of  his  own  in  Manchester  for  a  short 

25 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


time.  On  the  persuasion  of  Dr.  Priestley  he  went  to  London  in  1778, 
and  lectured  in  the  Haymarket,  with  such  success  that  he  took  a  house 
in  George  Street,  Hanover  Square,  lecturing  every  winter  in  town, 
and  also  at  Eton,  Westminster,  Winchester,  and  other  public  schools. 
He  developed  an  inventive  turn  of  mind,  something  like  that  of 
Romney's  father,  and  perfected  various  mechanical  devices,  such  as 
engines  for  raising  water,  carriages  to  go  by  wind  and  steam,  a  machine 
for  watering  land,  and  a  dibbling  plough.  He  also  planned  the 
rotary  lights  for  the  St.  Agnes  lighthouse  in  the  Scilly  Islands,  which 
were  fixed  under  his  personal  superintendence  in  1790.  In  1772  he 
took  out  a  patent  for  an  improved  harpsichord,  called  the  '  Coelestina ' ; 
but  perhaps  his  best-known  invention  was  the  '  Eidouranion '  or 
transparent  orrery  which  he  used  for  the  illustration  of  his  astrono- 
mical lectures.  He  retained  most  cordial  relationships  with  Romney 
throughout  the  hitter's  life,  and  died  at  Richmond  in  1821. 

At  the  outset  Romney  had  to  struggle  hard  to  gain  even  a  decent 
livelihood.  Commissions  were  far  from  plentiful,  and  the  fees  he  was 
obliged  to  ask  were  ridiculously  low,  even  for  those  days,  while 
appearances  had  to  some  extent  to  be  kept  up ;  so  that,  however 
modest  the  desires,  and  however  small  the  household  expenses  of  the 
young  couple,  they  must,  at  times,  have  found  life  more  than  a  little 
difficult.  They  took  up  their  abode,  no  doubt,  with  Mrs.  Romney's 
mother,  and  probably  received  occasional  help  from  Upper  Cocken. 
According  to  the  painter's  son,  Romney  was  much  respected  in 
Kendal,  and  obtained  a  fair  amount  of  employment  from  people  who 
were  interested  in  him,  and  had  confidence  in  his  future  success.  His 
charges  were  only  two  guineas  for  a  '  three-quarters '  portrait  (30  in. 
x  25  in.),  and  six  for  a  small  full-length  of  kit-cat  size.  His  first 
commission  was  a  very  modest  one — he  painted  on  a  board  a  hand 
holding  a  letter,  as  a  sign  for  the  postmaster  of  Kendal,  which  remained 
in  its  original  position  for  many  years. 

He  found,  happily,  a  good  friend  in  Mr.  Walter  Strickland,  of 
Sizergh,  the  representative  of  one  of  the  oldest  families  in  the  north 
of  England.  Among  the  first  portraits  he  undertook  were  two  half- 
lengths  of  this  gentleman  and  his  wife.  He  often  visited  Sizergh, 
and  made  copies  of  several  of  the  family  portraits,  including  one  of 
Sir  William  Strickland  by  Lely,  and  others,  by  Rigaud,  of  an  admiral 
and  a  bishop  of  Namur,  French  ancestors  of  the  family.  Until  he 
went  to  London,  these  were  almost  the  only  pictures  by  the  old 
masters  he  had  a  good  opportunity  of  studying,  and  this  opportunity 
26 


EARLY  PORTRAITS 


must  have  been  not  only  a  delight  but  of  great  advantage 
to  him. 

He  painted  other  members  of  this  family,  including  a  small  full 
length  of  Mr.  Charles  Strickland,  who  succeeded  his  brother,  seated 
out  of  doors,  fishing-rod  in  hand,  by  a  waterfall  called  the  Force,  on 
the  river  Kent ;  and  a  companion  portrait  of  the  Rev.  William 
Strickland,  in  his  study,  and  a  three-quarter  length  of  the  latter's  wife, 
both  done  just  before  he  left  the  north  for  London.  All  these 
portraits  are  still  at  Sizergh.  Among  the  small  full-lengths  of  this 
period  are  two  which  his  son  specially  mentions  on  account  of  the 
excellent  painting  of  the  dogs  which  he  introduced  into  them.  One 
was  of  Mr.  Jacob  Morland,  of  Capplethwaite,  in  shooting-dress,  with 
his  favourite  pointer,  which  is  now  in  the  National  Gallery ;  the  other 
of  Colonel  George  Wilson,  of  Abbot  Hall,  Kendal,  leaning  against  a 
rock,  with  three  spaniels,  which  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  Wilson 
family  at  Dallam  Tower. 

Colonel  Wilson,  who  was  son  of  Daniel  Wilson,  M.P.,  of  Dallam 
Tower,  was,  like  Mr.  Strickland,  a  good  friend  to  the  young  painter. 
He  saw  that  there  were  possibilities  of  a  brilliant  future  before  him, 
and  so  took  a  personal  interest  in  his  career.  A  small  full-length 
portrait,  said  to  be  of  the  Colonel,  and  of  about  the  same  date  as  the 
one  just  mentioned,  in  sporting  costume,  was  sold  at  Messrs.  Christie's 
on  July  18th,  1896,  in  which  he  is  represented  in  a  blue  dress  with 
a  fishing-rod,  standing  by  the  falls  on  the  river  Kent.  This  descrip- 
tion resembles  so  closely  that  of  the  portrait  of  Charles  Strickland, 
that  there  seems  a  possibility  of  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  John 
Romney,  who  may  have  confused  two  different  sitters.  Romney 
also  painted  the  Colonel's  wife  and  daughter,  the  very  beautiful 
picture  now  in  Lathom  House,  one  of  the  finest  and  most  '  classical ' 
canvases  which  he  produced  in  the  first  years  after  his  return  from 
Italy  (see  Plate  xxvu.).1 

Two  other  Wilson  portraits  by  Romney  at  Dallam  Tower 
represent  the  Rev.  Daniel  Wilson,  of  Lancaster,  in  clerical  dress, 
painted  in  1767,  when  the  artist  revisited  the  north  for  a  short  time, 
and  Mrs.  Wilson,  'a  very  pleasing  picture,  and  sweetly  coloured:  it 
was  painted  about  1784,  when  he  had  acquired  his  best  manner.'2 
He  painted  another  member  of  this  family  in  1764,  Mr.  James 
Wilson,  in  a  red  dress  with  a  white  stock  and  cuffs,  leaning  with 


1  Peter  Romney  also  drew  the  portraits  of  Colonel  and  Mrs.  AVilson  in  crayons  in  177^. 
-  John  Romneyj  p.  20. 

27 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


his  left  elbow  on  a  statue,  and  a  distant  landscape  on  the  right,  on 
a  canvas  44  in.  x  54^  in.  It  was  sold  at  Messrs.  Christie's  on  May 
7th,  1905,  as  the  property  of  Captain  Braithwaite,  the  original  receipt 
going  with  the  picture. 

A  portrait  which  was  executed  under  difficult  conditions  was  that 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Simonds,  vicar  of  Kendal,  whose  wife  was  very 
anxious  to  have  his  likeness  ;  but  the  reverend  gentleman  refused  to 
sit,  so  that  Romney  was  obliged  to  sketch  him  furtively  in  church, 
and  then  paint  the  portrait  from  these  hasty  notes  and  from 
memory. 

He  had  still  more  worry  over  the  portrait  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Bateman,  head-master  of  Sedbergh  School,  who  was  quite  willing  to  be 
painted,  but  was  less  inclined  to  pay  the  modest  fee  of  two  guineas 
asked  in  return.  Dr.  Bateman  did  not  approve  of  it  as  a  likeness, 
and  expected  Romney  to  make  some  alterations  in  it.  When  the 
painter  returned  to  Kendal  in  1765,  after  three  years'  absence  in 
London,  he  tried  once  more  to  get  his  hardly-earned  money;  where- 
upon the  learned  doctor  wrote  him  a  singularly  offensive  letter,  in 
which  he  accused  him  of  breaking  his  promise  to  paint  the  portrait 
over  again,  threatening  a  'publick  exposition,' and  declaring  that  the 
offending  artist  should  see  his  '  behaviour  painted  in  one  of  the  publick 
papers '  for  his  most  flagrant  and  scandalous  breach  of  faith.  This 
bombastic  and  abusive  effusion,  too  long  to  quote  in  its  entirety,  did 
not  intimidate  Romney,  who  sent  him  a  lawyer's  letter,  which  soon 
brought  the  irate  pedagogue  to  reason. 

Certain  of  his  works  of  this  period  still  remain  in  the  Kendal 
district,  such  as  the  Strickland  portraits,  already  mentioned,  while 
Mr.  H.  Arnold,  of  Arnbarrow,  has  in  his  possession  two  or  three  of  the 
'  lottery '  pictures  about  to  be  described.  Four  early  examples  now 
hang  in  the  Kendal  Town  Hall,  one  of  which,  the  portrait  of  Alder- 
man Wilson,  has  the  original  bill  for  eight  guineas  attached  to  it,  with 
the  receipt  signed  by  Peter  Romney,  'for  George  Romney,  Esq.,' 
dated  July  17,  1764.  There  is  also  a  fifth  portrait,  painted  more  than 
twenty  years  later,  of  Sir  John  Wilson  in  his  judge's  wig  and  robes, 
which  was  presented  to  the  Corporation  of  Kendal  in  1871  by  Admiral 
Wilson,  of  the  How,  Applethwaite.  This  was  engraved  in  mezzotint 
by  John  Murphy  in  1792. 

During  the  five  years  Romney  spent  in  Kendal  and  the  neighbour- 
ing district  commissions  were  not  numerous  enough  to  oblige  him  to 
devote  his  whole  time  to  portrait-painting.    In  his  spare  hours  he 
28 


SUBJECTS   FROM   'KING  LEAR' 


executed  a  number  of  original  subject-pictures,  and  copied  in  oils 
various  old  prints,  Dutch  landscapes,  tavern  scenes,  and  the  like,  which 
he  had  collected.  Finding  that  these  productions  remained  upon  his 
hands,  he  devised  a  scheme  of  a  public  lottery  in  order  to  dispose  of 
them,  chiefly  with  the  idea,  says  Hayley,  of  raising  enough  money  to 
visit  London.  He  got  together  twenty  pictures,  of  which  only  eight 
were  original  compositions  of  his  own,  the  others  being  '  from  designs 
of  eminent  masters,'  and  eighty-two  tickets  were  issued  at  the  price  of 
half  a  guinea,  the  prizes  being  exhibited  in  the  Kendal  Town  Hall  for 
a  week  before  the  drawing. 

The  most  important  of  the  original  pictures  were  two  scenes  from 
King  Lear,  each  4  ft.  4  in.  x  3  ft.  6  in.,  and  valued  by  the  artist 
at  eight  guineas  each,  representing  '  King  Lear  awakened  by  his 
daughter  Cordelia,'  and  '  King  Lear  in  the  tempest  tearing  off  his 
robes.'  At  the  time  Hayley  was  writing  his  life  of  the  artist  both 
pictures  belonged  to  Adam  Walker.  The  former,  which  was  No.  1  on 
the  prize  list,  was  won  by  a  Mr.  Richardson,  of  Cartmel.  Walker  sat 
for  it,  and  the  Cordelia  was  painted  from  the  artist's  wife.  Many  years 
later  one  of  Walker's  sons  saw  it  in  a  shop  in  Kensington,  and,  as  it 
attracted  his  fancy,  purchased  it,  although  he  had  no  idea  who  had 
painted  it,  or  that  his  father  had  sat  for  one  of  the  figures.  On  bring- 
ing it  home  Adam  Walker  recognised  it  as  an  old  friend.  The  second 
'  Lear'  subject  was  won  by  a  Mrs.  Robinson,  housekeeper  to  Captain 
Wilson,  of  Bardsea  Hall.  According  to  John  Romney,  this  picture,  a 
torchlight  effect,  was  his  father's  first  effort  in  historical  painting ;  and 
it  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  same  scene  in  the  play  was  the  subject  of 
the  last  picture  he  attempted,  for  in  1798,  when  his  powers  had  almost 
completely  failed,  he  began  another  version  of  it,  his  pupil,  Isaac 
Pocock,  sitting  for  the  head  of  'Edgar.'  At  a  later  date  the  early 
'King  Lear'  came  into  the  possession  of  Mr.  Braddyll,  of  Conishead 
Priory,  now  the  well-known  hydropathic  establishment  on  Morecambe 
Bay.  Many  years  afterwards  Romney  painted  fine  full-length  portraits 
of  Colonel  Braddyll  with  a  horse,1  and  of  his  wife,  the  lady  whose 
beautiful  portrait  by  Sir  Joshua  is  in  the  Wallace  Collection.  The 
Braddylls  were  cousins  of  the  Gales,  of  which  family  Romney  also 
painted  several  members. 

Next  on  the  list  was  a  '  Landscape  with  Figures,'  of  almost  the 
same  size  as  the  preceding,  which  Romney  modestly  priced  at  four 
guineas.    It  represented  a  scene  on  Windermere,  with  a  party  of  three 

1  The  horse  is  said  to  have  been  painted  by  Gilpin. 

29 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


ladies  and  two  gentlemen  embarking  in  a  small  boat,  and  was  a  recol- 
lection of  an  excursion  made  to  Bowness  by  the  artist  and  his  wife,  with 
Adam  Walker  and  some  other  friends.  It  was  won  by  Miss  Gibson, 
of  Lancaster.  When  Romney  went  back  to  the  north,  in  1798,  and 
was  looking  out  for  a  house,  he  and  his  son  discovered  this  picture  in 
one  of  the  rooms  of  a  mansion  belonging  to  a  Mr.  Gibson,  a  relation  of 
the  original  owner  ;  and  later  on  John  Romney  purchased  it.  He  thus 
describes  it: — 'The  figures  reminded  me  of  Watteau's  familiar  and 
elegant  compositions.  The  colouring  is  beautifully  clear  and  as  fresh 
as  if  recently  painted.  The  execution  evinces  great  facility  and  freedom 
of  handling ;  and  the  touches  are  spirited  and  neat,  far,  very  far,  beyond 
what  might  have  been  expected  from  so  young  and  unexperienced  an 
artist.  The  landscape,  also,  shews  that  he  would  have  excelled  in  that 
branch  of  the  art,  had  he  made  it  his  particular  study.' 

No.  5  on  the  lottery  list,  '  A  Shandean  Piece,'  2  ft.  6  in.  x  2  ft. 
2  in.,  valued  at  £3,  was  one  of  several  small  compositions  painted  from 
Tristram  Shandy.  It  was  once  in  the  possession  of  Sir  Allan 
Chambre,  to  whom  it  had  been  given  by  the  winner.  '  It  represents 
Dr.  Slop,  all  splashed  and  bedaubed  with  dirt,  ushered  into  the  parlour 
by  Obadiah,  where  Walter  Shandy  and  Toby  were  discoursing  on  the 
nature  of  woman,  but  whose  attention  was  immediately  arrested  by 
the  woful  and  grotesque  appearance  of  the  doctor.'1  It  was  engraved 
for  Hayley's  book  by  W.  Haines,  and  the  engraving  is  also  reproduced 
by  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell.  It  was  'justly  regarded  as  a  work  of  great 
comic  power,'  says  Hayley  ;  and  Cumberland,  who  also  had  seen  it,  was 
of  opinion  that  '  the  several  characters  are  so  admirably  conceived,  and 
executed  with  such  comic  force  and  spirit,  that  it  is  well  worthy  an 
engraving ;  and  without  considering  it  as  the  work  of  a  man  who  had 
seen  so  little,  it  is  in  itself  a  composition  that  would  do  honour  to  the 
genius  of  an  established  artist.' 

Another  Sterne  subject — said  to  be  Romney 's  own  favourite  among 
them — was  '  Obadiah  making  his  bow  to  Dr.  Slop  as  the  doctor  is  fall- 
ing in  the  dirty  lane ' ;  while  a  third  represented  '  The  Death  of  Le 
Fevre.'  The  latter  was  among  the  pictures  taken  by  the  artist  to 
London.  Adam  Walker,  as  already  stated,  sat  as  a  model  for  all 
the  Shandean  works,  as  well  as  for  other  pictures,  which  were  painted 
in  Lancaster,  where  Romney  spent  the  better  part  of  a  year,  in  the  same 
lodgings  as  his  friend,  busily  engaged  in  painting  portraits,  Mrs. 
Romney  remaining  behind  in  Kendal.   Walker's  own  portrait,  together 

1  John  llomuey,  page  29. 

30 


THE  LOTTERY  PICTURES 


with  the  members  of  his  family,  was  painted  again  by  Romney  towards 
the  end  of  his  life.  Walker  told  Hayley  that  the  '  Le  Fevre '  picture 
'  was  much  admired.  The  figures  were  about  eighteen  inches  long, 
and  wonderfully  expressive.  The  dying  lieutenant  was  looking  at 
Uncle  Toby  (who  sat  mute  at  the  foot  of  the  bed),  and  by  the  motion 
of  his  hand  was  recommending  his  son  to  his  care.  The  boy  was 
kneeling  by  the  bedside,  and  with  eyes  that  expressed  the  anguish  of 
his  heart  was,  as  it  were,  turning  from  a  dying  to  a  living  father, 
begging  protection,  a  most  pathetic  figure.  Trim  was  standing  at  a 
distance  in  his  usual  attitude,  and  with  a  face  full  of  inward  grief. 
What  became  of  this  admirable  picture  I  cannot  tell.'  Romney  s 
friends  regarded  this  work  as  a  'masterpiece  of  pathetic  expression,' 
Daniel  Braithwaite  thinking  it  to  be  '  the  most  affecting  picture  he 
ever  beheld.' 

Out  of  the  eight  original  compositions  included  in  the  lottery  John 
Romney  was  only  able  to  trace  the  four  already  mentioned.  The 
remaining  ones  were  No.  4,  'A  Quarrel'  (2  ft.  11  in.  x  2  ft.  3  in.,  £3, 
10s.) ;  No.  6,  '  A  Droll  Scene  in  an  Ale  House '  (2  ft.  2  in.  x  2  ft.  1  in., 
£2,  10s.) ;  No.  11,  'A  Group  of  Heads  by  Candlelight '  (2  ft.  x  1  ft.  4  in., 
£l,  5s.) ;  and  No.  18,  «  A  Tooth  Drawing  by  Candlelight '  (1  ft.  x  10  in., 
10s.).  All  four  of  these  were,  no  doubt,  based  upon  his  studies  of 
Dutch  prints.  At  this  period  Romney  was  rather  fond  of  experiment- 
ing in  candlelight  effects.  He  painted  the  portrait  of  his  brother 
James,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  holding  a  candle  in  one  hand,  and  shading 
the  light  with  the  other.  His  son  possessed  a  copy  of  the  'Tooth 
Drawing '  made  by  Peter  Romney.  The  remaining  prizes  were  copies 
of  landscapes  after  Poussin,  Berghem,  Wouwerman,  and  others  not 
named ;  a  view  of  Colebrook  Dale ;  other  landscapes  with  houses, 
people  fishing,  etc.  ;  a  harvest  scene ;  a  Dutch  house  with  figures  ;  a 
rocky  scene ;  and  the  Magdalen,  a  St.  Cecilia,  and  the  Holy  Family. 

Two  small  canvases,  with  the  heads  of  Lear  and  Cordelia,  studies 
for  the  first  prize  in  the  lottery,  came  into  the  possession  of  Mr. 
Matthew  Whittaker,  of  Kendal.  Romney  was  going  to  throw  them 
into  the  fire,  but  his  friend  begged  hard,  and  saved  them  from  the 
flames.  '  They  were  coloured  in  so  clear  and  beautiful  a  tone,'  says 
John  Romney,  '  that  it  became  a  matter  of  astonishment  to  me  how  he 
could  have  attained  to  such  excellence  in  so  short  a  time.'  This  Whit- 
taker, who  played  on  the  German  flute,  formed  one  of  the  small  group 
of  musical  enthusiasts,  among  whom  was  Walker,  who  met  at  regular 
intervals  at  Romney's  lodgings. 

31 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


The  number  of  portraits  he  painted  during  the  year  or  two  preced- 
ing his  departure  for  London  was  considerable.  His  prices  at  this 
time  continued  to  be  two  guineas  for  a  head  and  shoulders,  and  six  for 
a  whole  length  of  kitcat  size.  These  charges,  contemptible  as  they 
were  even  for  those  days,  were  regarded  by  some  of  his  clients  as  too 
high.  His  son  mentions  one  of  them  who,  after  giving  him  a  commis- 
sion to  paint  the  portrait  of  an  old  friend,  refused  to  pay  for  it  on  the 
plea  that  he  did  not  see  the  work  finished,  and  only  did  so  some  years 
later,  after  he  had  gathered  from  others  that  the  artist's  work  might 
some  day  prove  valuable. 

With  fees  as  low  as  this,  it  was  necessary,  if  he  were  to  maintain  his 
family  decently,  to  paint  as  many  portraits  as  possible,  and  so  he 
gradually  acquired  a  rapidity  of  handling,  rarely  surpassed  by  any  other 
painter,  which,  later  on,  enabled  him  to  receive  many  more  sitters  in 
his  London  studio  than  either  of  his  two  great  rivals. 

In  1759,  his  brother  Peter,  nine  years  his  junior,  joined  him  at 
Kendal,  and  studied  under  him  for  the  next  three  years.  In  1760  his 
second  child,  a  daughter,  was  born,  but  she  only  lived  for  three  years, 
dying  about  twelve  months  after  her  father  had  moved  to  London. 
The  disconsolate  mother  then  left  Kendal,  and  went  to  reside  with  her 
father-in-law  until  his  death. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  this  time  Romney's  ambition  to  become 
a  great  painter  kept  his  thoughts  constantly  turned  towards  London 
as  the  goal  to  be  attained  for  the  full  practice  of  his  art.  Only  there 
could  he  find  adequate  opportunities  for  study  and  improvement  in 
painting.  He  was  conscious  that  he  had  it  in  him  to  accomplish 
much  greater  things,  if  only  the  chance  were  given  to  him  of 
making  acquaintance  with  some  of  the  masterpieces  of  the  great 
painters  who  had  gone  before  him,  and  of  testing  his  own  per- 
formances by  the  side  of  those  of  the  leading  artists  of  his  own  day. 

In  the  narrow  provincial  circles  in  which  he  moved,  where  art  was 
little  regarded  for  its  own  sake,  and  a  limner  of  portraits  was  looked 
upon  by  most  people  as  little  better  than  a  house-painter,  he  had  small 
opportunity  of  making  rapid  strides  towards  that  perfection  which  was 
always  his  aim  even  from  the  beginning ;  while  there  was  every 
probability,  if  he  remained  permanently  in  the  north,  that  he  would 
become  a  mere  hack-worker,  such  as  his  late  master,  and  that  his  life 
would  be  one  of  perpetual  drudgery,  with  little  or  no  glory,  and 
poverty  always  close  at  hand.  It  was  only  natural,  then,  that  he 
should  have  gradually  grown  to  look  to  London  as  the  one  ideal 
32 


LEAVES   KENDAL   FOR  LONDON 


place  in  which  to  make  a  brave  attempt  to  capture  both  fame  and 
fortune.  Such  a  step,  however,  could  not  be  taken  without  many 
months  of  anxious  thought  and  the  careful  consideration  of  ways  and 
means.  Ambition  conquered  in  the  end,  as  it  was  bound  to  do  with 
Romney,  who  was  indifferent  to  almost  everything  but  his  art,  and 
whose  whole  life  was  spent  in  the  endeavour  to  make  it  more  and 
more  perfect.  For  a  painter  of  the  slenderest  means,  with  others 
depending  upon  him,  such  a  step  was  a  most  serious  one,  and  it  was 
possibly  only  after  much  inward  agitation  that  he  finally  made  up 
his  mind  to  take  the  plunge.  The  question  of  money  was  the  most 
serious  of  all.  He  managed,  however,  to  put  by  a  little  out  of  his 
scanty  fees,  and  with  this  and  the  amount  he  had  gained  by  his  lottery, 
he  was  able  to  scrape  together  a  sum  of  about  one  hundred  pounds. 
Thirty  pounds  of  this  fund  he  took  for  his  own  use,  leaving  the  re- 
mainder for  his  wife  and  family,  trusting  that  he  would  be  able  to  send 
more  before  it  was  exhausted.  There  is  not  the  slightest  evidence 
that  at  this  time  he  had  any  conscious  intention  of  deserting  his  wife 
by  taking  such  a  step.  He  left  the  north  for  the  purpose  of  seeking 
more  remunerative  work,  and,  in  a  still  greater  degree,  to  procure  for 
himself  those  greater  facilities  for  study  and  improvement  which  only 
the  metropolis  could  offer ;  and  he  intended  it  to  be  a  painting  expedi- 
tion such  as  those  he  was  in  the  habit  of  paying  to  Lancaster  or  York, 
but  of  longer  duration ;  though  possibly,  if  London  smiled  upon  him, 
and  he  made  something  of  a  reputation,  he  might  hope  to  fix  his  per- 
manent home  there,  in  which  his  family  could  join  him  when  his 
fortunes  were  more  assured. 

Romney  set  out  from  Kendal  on  March  14th,  1762.  A  journey  to 
London  was  something  of  an  adventure  in  those  days.  He  travelled 
on  horseback,  in  company  with  two  friends.  They  stayed  a  night  in 
Manchester,  and  here  he  fell  in  with  his  old  master,  Christopher  Steele, 
as  gay  and  debonair,  and  in  just  as  many  difficulties,  as  ever  he  had 
been.  The  next  morning  Steele  rode  with  the  travellers  as  far  as 
Stockport,  and  from  that  moment  he  vanishes  from  Romney 's  life. 
Later  in  the  same  year  Steele  departed  hurriedly  for  the  West  Indies, 
leaving  the  usual  debts  behind  him.  Romney  being  no  longer  at 
hand,  it  fell  to  Adam  Walker  to  have  the  privilege  of  coping  with 
the  '  Count's '  creditors  and  clients,  and  he  sent  Romney  a  very 
entertaining  letter,  dated  December  12th,  1762,  describing  his  exciting 
experiences  in  attempting  to  appease,  if  not  to  satisfy,  a  crowd  of  justly 
indignant  people. 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


'  The  Count,'  he  wrote,  '  now  rides  the  vast  Atlantic  Ocean,  and 
being  quite  tired  out  with  the  blindness  and  stupidity  of  the  old,  is 
going  to  try  the  discernment  of  the  new  world.  He  sailed  from  Liver- 
pool a  few  days  ago  for  the  West  Indies,  having  left  Manchester  in  too 
abrupt  a  way  to  make  an  end  of  his  affairs.  Accordingly  he  put  me 
into  commission  to  collect  his  scattered  goods  and  chattels  ;  (an  emploj' 
that  I  could  very  well  have  dispensed  with  ;)  and  obliged  his  creditors, 
for  the  benefit  of  more  things  than  their  health,  to  take  a  ride  out  to 
Liverpool. 

'  I  began  my  commission  by  buying  three  dozen  of  great  and  small 
corks  for  bottles  of  oil,  etc.,  which  had  never  known  that  conveni- 
ence ;  but  I  had  no  sooner  taken  possession  of  the  room,  than  it  was 
filled  with  distressed  damsels ;  some  in  want  of  a  pair  of  stays,  others 
of  gauze  handkerchiefs,  ruffles,  caps,  dolls,  etc.,  and  many,  no  doubt, 
of  their  virtue.  I  obliged  all  as  far  as  my  things  would  go  ;  but  what 
were  the  lamentations  when  many  were  missing,  and  others  so  orna- 
mented with  oil,  vermilion,  etc.,  that  the  outrageous  owners 
scarcely  knew  them  again.  But  lo !  the  tremendous  landlord  of  the 
vacant  house  comes  in  !  "  Nothing  goes  hence,  sir,  till  I  am  indemni- 
fied for  my  lost  keys,  broken  locks  and  windows,  and  those  oiled 
places  in  my  floors." — Dismay  seized  every  damsel — "  what  not  have 
my  petticoat  ? "  "  not  my  gauze  apron  ? "  Oh  Lord  !  "Nothing,  young 
woman,"  replies  the  landlord.  But,  sir,  I  hope  there  is  enough  besides, 
and  I  have  a  commission  to  pay  you. — "  Very  well,  then  you  may  take 
yourselves  and  trumpery  away,"  quoth  he  to  the  afflicted — they  did, 
and  compounded  for  the  stains  and  rents  in  their  different  garments 
with  great  exultation  of  heart.  But  ere  the  prints  are  half  gathered 
from  the  floor,  in  comes  a  tribe. — "  Sir,  my  bill  is  only  five  shillings  and 
sixpence;  mine  only  fifteen  shillings;  all  charged  at  the  very  lowest. 
Sir,  I  must  have  my  picture,  he  had  a  ring  for  it ;  though  it 's  like  the 
rest,  but  half  done.  Sir,  I  understand  you  have  a  commission  so-and-so. 
Sir,  you  know  Mr.  Steele  and  you  and  I  have  been  very  merry  together, 
and  it  would  be  hard  if  the  two  guineas  I  lent  "  Zounds  !  gentle- 
men, I  have  but  four  pound  ten  to  pay  twenty  with — what  the  devil 
would  you  have  me  do  ?  I  '11  not  pay  a  farthing  of  my  own.  "  But, 
sir,  you  know  a  poor  washerwoman  gets  her  bread  very  hard."  So  do 
I. — I  '11  positively  throw  up  my  commission.  With  great  difficulty  I 
got  all  together,  and  a  laced  suit  from  the  pawn-broker's ;  and  sent  all 
off,  except  a  landscape  after  Poussin,  two  war  pieces,  a  night  piece, 
and  a  Dutch  one,  all  of  your  performance,  which  I  saved  from  the 
34 


PLATE  IV/ 


THE  COUNTESS  OF  CARLISLE 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  SUTHERLAND,  K.G. 

Pages  q6,  2gj 


PLATE  VIII 


LADY  HAMILTON  WITH  A  DOG,  Ok  " NATURE' 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  MR.  TANKER VI LLE  CHAMBERLAYNE 

Pages  113,  3/3 


ARRIVAL   IN  LONDON 


general  wreck  by  giving  him  two  guineas  for  them.  My  picture  is  in 
the  same  state  in  which  you  saw  it.  I  do  not  think  this  thoughtless 
fellow  has  done  a  week's  work  these  six  months ;  sometimes  the 
weather,  sometimes  a  girl,  and  sometimes  the  prospect  of  matrimonial 
emolument,  has  kept  him  from  all  manner  of  business,  which  might 
have  kept  him  out  of  debt,  and  from  that  multitude  of  mortifications 
which  continually  attended  him.  ...  It  was  with  inexpressible 
pleasure  that  I  heard  of  your  success  in  London,  and  I  am  sure  it  will 
increase.  You  have  now,  I  dare  say,  laid  aside  all  schemes  of  pastoral 
felicity,  a  reverie  that  I  often  indulge.  .  .  .  God  bless  you,  write  to 
me,  and  be  particular.  I  know  how  much  you  hate  writing,  but 
mortify  yourself  for  once,  and  add  one  more  pleasure  to  the  life  of 
Your  most  affectionate  friend,  A.  Walker  ' 1 

Romney  and  his  companions,  one  of  whom  was  a  Mr.  Holme,  of 
Manchester,  had  a  pleasant  week's  journey,  though  on  one  of  the  days 
they  were  considerably  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  their  purses,  for  they 
were  joined  by  a  man,  who,  to  their  suspicious  eyes,  had  every  appear- 
ance of  a  highwayman.  He  rode  with  them  for  some  distance,  but 
finally  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  odds  were  too  many  for  him, 
and  so  left  them  without  attempting  robbery.  They  reached  London 
on  March  21st  without  further  adventure,  and  dismounted  at  the 
Castle  Inn,  where  Romney  remained  for  a  fortnight  while  he  looked 
about  him  for  suitable  lodgings. 

1  Quoted  by  John  Romney,  pp.  42-44. 


35 


VI 


AT  that  time  London,  though  the  goal  of  all  aspiring  eighteenth 
/-\  century  painters,  was  but  poorly  provided  with  facilities  for 
the  serious  study  of  art  when  compared  with  the  opportunities 
it  offers  to  the  student  in  the  present  day.  When  Romney  came  to 
town  in  1762  almost  the  only  place  where  it  was  possible  to  gain  some 
kind  of  tuition,  and  that  not  of  the  best,  was  at  the  Academy  in  St. 
Martin's  Lane,  but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  made  any  use  of  it ;  it 
was  not  until  the  Royal  Academy  was  founded  in  1768  that  systematic 
instruction  in  the  fine  arts  was  attempted.  The  first  effort  to  establish 
an  academy  or  school  for  young  artists  in  London  was  made  by  Sir 
Godfrey  Kneller  in  1711.  He  had  then  been  thirty-seven  years  in 
England,  and  had  become  the  most  popular  painter  of  his  day.  He 
had  been  knighted  by  William  in.,  and  made  a  baronet  by  George  i., 
and,  aided  by  numerous  assistants,  had  amassed  a  large  fortune  by  his 
brush.  Several  of  the  leading  artists  of  the  metropolis  combined  with 
him  in  forming  a  society  on  the  lines  of  the  Academy  of  France,  but 
internal  jealousies  soon  brought  it  to  an  end.  Sir  James  Thornhill, 
who  was  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  two  parties  into  which  the  society 
had  split,  in  his  turn  set  up  an  Academy  of  his  own  in  a  room  he  had 
built  for  the  purpose  at  the  back  of  his  house  in  Covent  Garden. 
As  historical  painter  to  the  king  he  had  already  tried  without  success 
to  found  a  Royal  Academy  at  the  upper  end  of  the  King's  Mews. 
To  the  school  he  instituted  at  his  own  house  admission  was  by 
ticket;  but,  like  its  predecessor,  it  had  only  a  short  and  not  very 
successful  life.  Here  again  a  party  of  secessionists,  with  Van- 
derbank  at  their  head,  started  a  rival  academy  of  their  own, 
with  a  female  model  to  attract  subscribing  members,  but  in  spite 
of  this  novelty,  came  to  grief  in  their  turn,  mainly  through  want 
of  funds. 

On  the  death  of  Sir  James  Thornhill  in  1734,  an  attempt  was  made 
to  carry  on  his  Academy,  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  his  son-in-law, 
Hogarth.    Some  thirty  or  forty  artists,  among  whom  were  a  number 
36 


ST.   MARTIN'S  LANE  ACADEMY 


of  foreigners,  formed  themselves  into  a  body,  and  subscribed  between 
them  a  sum  sufficient  for  the  renting  of  a  large  room  and  the  provision 
of  models.  Hogarth,  who  had  become  the  owner  of  the  furniture  and 
apparatus  used  by  Sir  James  Thornhill,  lent  it  to  the  new  society, 
which,  after  starting  in  rooms  in  Grey  Court,  Arundel  Street,  soon 
moved  to  St.  Peter's  Court,  St.  Martin's  Lane.  It  was  the  first 
institution  of  its  kind  in  London  to  obtain  any  adequate  measure 
of  success,  and  for  some  forty  years  it  was  the  only  school  in  which 
young  artists  could  gain  any  training  in  the  rudiments  of  their  art ; 
and  here  most  of  the  leading  painters  of  the  reign  of  George  Hi.  received 
a  certain  amount  of  elementary  instruction. 

Outside  this  Academy  in  St.  Martin's  Lane  there  was  little  effort 
made  to  encourage  native  talent,  or  to  discover  hidden  genius.  George 
ii.  was  entirely  lacking  in  taste  for  the  fine  arts,  and  the  patronage  of  the 
Court  was  but  scantily  extended  to  contemporary  painters.  Art,  indeed, 
was  at  its  lowest  ebb,  and  with  the  exception  of  portraits,  and  the 
decoration  of  ceilings,  walls,  and  staircases,  there  was  little  employ- 
ment for  the  artist  beyond  the  painting  of  sign-boards,  such  as  were 
used  by  every  business  house,  or  the  panels  of  coaches  and  carriages. 
The  rich  were  occupied  in  collecting  doubtful  '  Old  Masters,'  and  they 
usually  went  for  their  portraits  to  one  or  other  of  the  numerous 
foreigners  settled  here,  or  had  them  painted  abroad,  when  making 
the  'grand  tour'  in  Italy.  Rouquet,  the  enamel-painter,  who  lived 
in  London  for  thirty  years,  wrote,  as  late  as  1755,  that  the  English 
amused  themselves  with  the  arts,  without  bestowing  much  considera- 
tion on  the  artists ;  that  the  portrait-painter  was  more  dependent  on 
the  influence  of  powerful  friends  than  on  talent ;  that  the  artist  who 
happened  to  be  the  favourite  was  constrained  to  work  incessantly, 
because  Fashion,  having  usurped  the  place  of  Reason,  required  that 
all  the  world  should  be  painted  by  the  same  person ;  that  the  arts 
had  so  little  influence  among  us,  that  the  painter  to  the  king  alone 
enjoyed  the  protection  of  the  crown ;  that  all  favourable  consideration 
and  lucrative  situations  were  controlled  by  regard,  direct  or  indirect, 
to  political  power ;  and  that  artists  of  talent,  without  the  right  of 
suffrage  at  elections,  or  without  friends  who  had  it,  never  gained  any- 
thing. Certainly  in  the  reign  of  George  n.,  whatever  genius  there 
might  be  in  England  was  little  considered,  and  what  small  share  of 
patronage  was  given  to  English-born  painters  usually  fell  to  the  worst 
of  them.  Such  indifferent  daubers  as  Kent,  Shackleton,  and  Sir  James 
ThornhhTs  son,  succeeded  one  another  in  the  post  of  painter  to  the 

37 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


king ;  and  it  was  not  until  1757,  when  Hogarth  received  the  appoint- 
ment at  the  age  of  sixty,  that  a  man  of  real  distinction  received  royal 
recognition. 

The  first  public  attempt  made  in  this  country  to  help  budding 
genius  and  to  reward  talent  adequately,  was  the  establishment  in 
London,  in  1754,  of  the  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts, 
Manufactures,  and  Commerce,  on  the  lines  of  one  founded  in  Dublin 
some  fourteen  years  previously.  Mr.  William  Shipley,  of  North- 
ampton, was  the  principal  mover  in  the  matter,  for  the  scheme  had 
been  in  his  mind  for  some  time.  He  interested  Lord  Folkestone, 
Lord  Romney,  and  others  in  it,  and  it  obtained  an  assured  success 
from  the  first.  Between  the  years  1754  and  1778  it  distributed  in 
bounties  and  premiums  more  than  twenty-four  thousand  pounds,  of 
which  some  sixteen  thousand  went  to  reward  merit  in  science  and  the 
remainder  to  the  fine  arts.  It  gave  gold  and  silver  medals,  and  sums 
of  varying  amounts  up  to  one  hundred  and  forty  pounds,  and  its  annual 
distribution  of  prizes  became  'a  scene  of  great  ceremony  and  display.' 
1  During  many  years,'  says  Pye,1  '  most  of  the  distinguished  artists  of 
London  were,  both  in  youth  and  manhood,  indebted  to  this  Society 
for  the  encouragement  and  countenance  it  conferred  on  them  by  its 
rewards ;  and  it  constitutes,  perhaps,  the  first  combined  effort  made 
amongst  us  to  call  into  general  exercise  the  inventive  faculty  of  man, 
as  a  power  necessary  to  the  improvement  of  every  branch  of  our 
manufactures.' 

Reports  of  its  meetings  and  its  prizes  were  spread  throughout  the 
country  by  means  of  the  newspaper,  and  Romney,  no  doubt,  was  aware 
of  the  substantial  encouragement  it  offered  to  struggling  painters, 
and  would  regard  it  as  an  added  inducement  to  take  him  to  London. 
Among  the  artists  who,  as  young  men,  were  successful  in  carrying  off 
rewards,  in  addition  to  Romney  himself,  were  Artaud,  the  painter  of  a 
number  of  striking  portraits,  including  one  of  Dr.  Priestley,  Mortimer, 
Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  Landseer,  the  sculptors  Nollekens,  Banks, 
Bacon,  and  Flaxman,  the  engravers  Finden,  Schiavonetti,  and  Bewick, 
and  the  medallists  Thomas  and  William  Wyon. 

In  1755,  a  year  after  the  establishment  of  this  Society,  a  serious 
attempt  was  made  to  found  a  Royal  Academy  of  Arts,  and  among 
those  signing  the  preliminary  prospectus  were  Joshua  Reynolds,  his 
master  Thomas  Hudson,  Thomas  Sandby,  Moser,  Roubilliac,  Sir  Robert 
Strange,  and  Francis  Hayman,  Gainsborough's  teacher,  who  was  chair- 

1  Patronage  of  British  Art,  John  Pye,  1845. 

38 


EARLY  EXHIBITIONS   I N  LONDON 


man.  The  Dilettanti  Society  gave  them  some  assistance,  but  the  usual 
disputes  arose,  and  the  project  failed. 

The  next  attempt  had  its  origin  as  far  back  as  the  year  1740,  when 
Hogarth  presented  his  portrait  of  Captain  Coram,  its  founder,  to  the 
Foundling  Hospital,  and,  later  on,  his  'March  to  Finchley.'  In  1745, 
when  the  west  wing  of  the  Hospital  was  finished,  other  artists  came 
forward  with  gifts  of  pictures,  among  them  being  Hayman,  Highmore, 
Hudson,  Allan  Ramsay,  and  Richard  Wilson.  These  pictures,  to 
which  others  were  added  from  time  to  time,  many  of  them  being 
portraits  of  the  patrons  of  the  Institution,  constituting,  as  they  did,  the 
first  collection  of  British  works  of  art  to  which  the  public  had  the 
right  of  admission,  caused  the  Hospital  to  become  a  popular  place  of 
resort ;  and  the  artists,  among  whom  were  Reynolds  and  Gainsborough, 
gained  in  reputation  in  consequence  of  the  great  number  of  visitors. 
This  suggested  to  the  general  body  of  artists  the  idea  of  an  annual 
public  exhibition  of  their  pictures.  A  meeting  was  held  at  the  Turk's 
Head,  Gerrard  Street,  Soho,  on  November  12th,  1759,  when  it  was 
resolved  to  hold  such  an  exhibition  every  April,  and  that  the  money 
charged  for  admission  should  be  used  towards  the  support  of  those  of 
their  number,  '  whose  age  and  infirmities,  or  other  lawful  hindrances, 
prevent  them  from  being  any  longer  candidates  for  fame.' 

They  received  permission  for  the  exhibitions  to  be  held  in  the  great 
room  of  the  Society  of  Arts,  in  the  Strand,  and  to  the  first  one,  which 
opened  on  April  21st,  1760,  sixty-nine  painters,  including  Reynolds, 
Cotes,  Cosway,  and  Paul  Sandby,  contributed  pictures.  In  the  follow- 
ing year,  owing  to  difficulties  with  the  Society,  which,  among  other 
things,  insisted  that  the  exhibition  should  be  free,  the  artists  arranged 
with  an  auctioneer  for  the  use  of  his  room  in  Spring  Gardens.  Once 
again  the  usual  dissensions  arose,  with  the  result  that  the  members 
divided,  and  two  annual  exhibitions  were  held,  the  larger  and  more 
distinguished  body  remaining  at  Spring  Gardens,  under  the  title  of  the 
'  Society  of  Artists  of  Great  Britain,'  and  the  smaller  section,  which  soon 
drew  others  into  its  fold,  returning  to  the  Society  of  Arts.  The  latter, 
in  1762,  entitled  themselves  the  '  Society  of  Artists  associated  for  the 
Relief  of  distressed  Brethren,  their  widows  and  orphans.'  Such  was 
the  state  of  art  in  London  when  Romney  came  there  in  1762. 

The  later  history  of  these  two  Societies,  with  both  of  which  he 
exhibited,  may  be  hastily  sketched  in  a  few  words.  The  Spring 
Gardens  body  received  a  Charter  of  Incorporation  on  January  26th, 

39 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


1765,  the  number  of  members  to  be  unlimited,  and  each  to  be  designated 
'  Fellow.'  The  roll  declaration  of  the  '  Society  of  Incorporated  Artists 
of  Great  Britain,'  as  they  now  called  themselves,  adopted  in  the  following 
year,  was  signed  by  two  hundred  and  eleven  members,  and  among  the 
signatures,  which  included  those  of  Reynolds  and  Gainsborough,  that 
of  George  Romney  occurs  sixth  from  the  end  of  the  list.  In  1767  the 
question  of  a  public  Academy  under  Royal  protection  was  under  dis- 
cussion among  the  members,  and  in  this  year  they  changed  the  name 
to  '  Royal  Academy,'  but  no  patronage  or  money  was  forthcoming  from 
the  royal  purse  or  person,  and  once  again  the  Society  was  agitated  by 
dissensions. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  second  Society  had  been  legally  enrolled  in 
1763  as  the  '  Free  Society  of  Artists,'  Romney  being  among  the  hundred 
members  who  signed  the  roll.  In  1765  a  move  was  made  from  the 
Society  of  Arts  in  the  Strand  to  a  big  room  in  Maiden  Lane,  Covent 
Garden,  and  in  1767  to  another  at  the  bottom  of  the  Haymarket.  It 
numbered  one  hundred  members  in  1768,  in  which  year  the  present 
Royal  Academy  of  Arts  was  founded. 

This  is  not  the  place  in  which  to  discuss  in  detail  the  disputes  which 
embittered  the  Incorporated  Society,  leading  to  the  ejection  of  some 
members,  and  the  resignation  of  others  who  had  been  the  leaders  in  its 
government,  and  the  final  establishment  of  the  Royal  Academy,  which 
sprang  into  existence  on  December  10th,  1768,  with  Reynolds,  who 
had  taken  no  public  share  in  the  quarrels,  as  its  first  President,  and 
with  the  King  as  its  active  patron,  owing  largely  to  the  persuasions  of 
Benjamin  West.  The  members  of  the  Incorporated  Society  made  a 
gallant  struggle  in  opposition,  and  in  1772  built  the  Lyceum  in  the 
Strand  at  a  cost  of  nearly  eight  thousand  pounds,  but  the  debt  they 
incurred  so  greatly  crippled  them  that  they  never  recovered,  and  after 
1775  held  no  regular  exhibition,  their  very  last  appearance  being  in 
Spring  Gardens  in  1791.  The  Free  Society,  which  in  1769  began  to 
exhibit  in  a  room  expressly  built  for  them  by  Mr.  Christie,  the 
auctioneer,  next  to  Cumberland  House,  Pall  Mall,  also  held  their  last 
exhibition  of  importance  in  1775,  reaching  final  collapse  four  years 
later ;  and  from  that  time  the  Royal  Academy  reigned  supreme. 


40 


VII 


ROMNEY  entered  London  full  of  hope  and  determination,  but 
almost  as  a  friendless  stranger.  With  the  exception  of  one  or 
*  two  north  country  acquaintances  at  that  time  settled  in  town, 
he  knew  few  people  who  could  be  of  much  service  to  him.  Among 
them  was  Daniel  Braithwaite,  for  many  years  Comptroller  of  the  foreign 
department  of  the  General  Post  Office — he  was  Secretary  to  the  Post- 
Master  General  in  1774  with  a  salary  of  £100- — who,  throughout  his 
life,  helped  the  painter  in  many  ways.  Braithwaite  numbered  many 
artists  among  his  friends,  and  was  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  marriage 
settlement  of  Angelica  Kauffmann  upon  her  union  with  A.  Zucchi,  and 
also  one  of  the  executors  of  her  will,  under  which  she  bequeathed  him 
£100.  Boswell  speaks  of  him  as  '  that  amiable  and  friendly  man,  who, 
with  modest  and  unassuming  manners,  had  associated  with  many  of  the 
wits  of  the  age.'  Hayley  dedicated  his  Life  of  Romney  to  him.  '  To 
you,  my  dear  sir,'  he  begins,  '  whom  Romney  used  to  call  his  earliest 
patron  in  the  metropolis,  to  you,  whose  kind  exertions  in  his  favor, 
and  whose  mild  endearing  manners  I  have  heard  him  so  frequently 
recall  to  his  recollection  with  gratitude  and  delight,  I  feel  irresistibly 
induced  to  inscribe  the  volume,  in  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  honor 
his  memory.'  Romney  gave  him  his  unfinished  portrait  of  Mrs. 
Siddons. 

In  a  letter  to  his  wife,  dated  March  30th,  1762,  written  from  the  Castle 
Inn,  about  a  week  after  his  arrival,  he  speaks  of  kindness  shown  to  him 
by  Mr.  Rowland  Stephenson,  a  banker,  whose  son's  portrait  he  had 
already  painted,  and  his  wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Alderman  Drink  ell, 
of  Kendal,  and  by  Mr.  Pennington,  Mr.  Walker,  and  other  friends.  In 
the  same  letter  he  tells  her  that  his  brother  John  has  been  with  him 
every  day,  apparently  for  assistance  which  Romney  could  ill  afford  to 
give,  but  '  is  going  to  work  immediately,  and  has  promised  to  stick 
close  to  it  for  the  future';  and  he  asks  her  to  forward  him  'the  pieces 
of  King  Lear,  and  Elfrida  rolled  up  in  a  box,'  with  some  other 
canvases,  the  titles  of  which  are  missing  through  the  unfortunate  tear- 

41 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


ing  of  the  letter.  He  adds,  too,  that  he  thinks  he  shall  like  London. 
But  unused  as  he  was  to  the  ways  and  the  bustle  of  a  big  city,  he  must 
have  felt  at  first  a  little  lost  and  forlorn  ;  though,  in  spite  of  a  natural 
anxiety  as  to  the  future,  he  was  soon  so  hard  at  work,  and  so  determined 
to  do  his  utmost  to  make  a  position  for  himself,  that  he  had  little  time 
for  despondent  thoughts.  He  was  well  aware  that  his  success  depended 
entirely  upon  his  own  individual  exertions,  and  the  rapidity  with  which 
he  was  able  to  improve  himself  in  his  art ;  for  he  had  no  noble  patrons 
to  sit  to  him  and  to  induce  others  to  come  to  his  studio,  and  no 
acquaintances  among  the  rich  and  fashionable  society  of  the  town. 

His  first  lodgings  were  at  Mr.  Pantry's,  a  butcher,  in  Dove  Court,  near 
the  Mansion  House,  where  he  immediately  began  to  paint.  His  stock- 
in-trade  consisted  of  a  few  portraits  and  pictures,  such  as  the  '  Elfrida ' 
and  one  of  his  'King  Lear'  subjects,  and  possibly  the  '  Death  of  Le 
Fevre.'  He  set  to  work  at  once  upon  a  large  composition  representing 
the  '  Death  of  David  Rizzio.'  Those  who  saw  it,  who,  according  to 
his  son,  were  competent  to  judge,  considered  it  to  be  '  a  work  of  extra- 
ordinary merit,  combining  energetic  action  with  strong  expression.' 
Hayley  says  that  Romney  regarded  it  as  the  best  of  his  youthful  pro- 
ductions, and  that  '  its  singular  merit  made  a  lasting  impression  on  the 
memory  of  those  who  saw  it,  as  the  young  artist  was  very  successful  in 
representing  both  the  beauty  and  the  compassionate  tenderness  of  the 
Queen.'  In  spite  of  their  praise  it  remained  unsold  on  his  hands,  and 
was  so  much  in  the  way  in  his  small  painting-room  that  before  going  to 
Paris,  in  1764,  he  destroyed  it,  after  cutting  out  some  of  the  heads. 

Early  in  August  he  moved  to  rooms  in  Bearbinder's  Lane,  where 
he  painted  his  picture  of  '  The  Death  of  General  Wolfe.'  At  this 
period  of  his  career  he  seems  to  have  regarded  '  death  scenes '  as 
subjects  which  offered  him  the  best  opportunities  for  acquiring  success 
in  the  field  of  historical  painting.  He  was  also  engaged  upon  several 
portraits,  commissions  which  he  obtained  chiefly  through  the  kind 
offices  of  his  friend  Daniel  Braithwaite.  One  of  these,  a  small 
family  group,  representing  a  gentleman  in  a  brown  dress,  his  wife  in 
blue  trimmed  with  fur,  and  a  young  daughter  in  pink,  signed  and 
dated  1763,  was  sold  at  Christie's  on  April  27th,  1902,  for  two  hundred 
guineas. 

In  1763  he  again  moved  his  lodgings,  this  time  to  rooms  near  the 
Mews  Gate,  Charing  Cross,  which  were  in  a  more  central  situation,  and 
close  to  the  Exhibition  rooms  in  Spring  Gardens,  and  to  the  Academy 
in  St.  Martin's  Lane,  though,  as  already  pointed  out,  there  is  no 
42 


PORTRAITS   OF  THE  DUKE  OF  RICHMOND 


evidence  to  show  that  he  ever  studied  in  the  latter.  There  was  one 
place  in  London,  however,  where  he  worked  with  great  advantage. 
The  Duke  of  Richmond  had  built  a  statue-gallery  in  Privy  Gardens 
which  he  threw  open  for  the  use  of  students  in  1758,  with  Wilton,  the 
sculptor,  and  Cipriani  as  directors.  The  gallery  contained  some  thirty 
casts  from  antique  statues  and  basso-rilievos,  and  here  Romney  was  in 
the  habit  of  copying.  '  Premiums  for  merit  were  promised  by  the 
noble  Duke,'  says  J.  T.  Smith ;  '  but  in  consequence  of  his  Grace 
receiving  orders  to  join  his  regiment  immediately,  there  was  no  time 
for  their  distribution.  Upon  which,  some  of  the  students  most  shame- 
fully posted  up  the  following  notice  against  the  studio  door  : — "  The 
Right  Honourable  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  being  obliged  to  join  his 
regiment  abroad,  will  pay  the  premiums  as  soon  as  he  comes  home." 

'This  paper  was  very  properly  taken  down,  but,  upon  the  Duke's 
return  from  Germany,  his  Grace  found  one  stuck  up,  apologizing  for 
his  poverty,  and  expressing  his  sorrow  for  having  promised  premiums. 
For  this  most  malicious  conduct  of  the  students  concerned,  his  Grace, 
for  a  time,  shut  up  the  gallery,  and  some  of  the  casts  became  the 
property  of  the  Royal  Academy,  upon  its  establishment.  The  above 
account  I  received  from  my  father,  who  was  one  of  the  many  other 
students  who  suffered  by  the  misconduct  of  his  disorderly  companions. 
The  Duke's  liberality  was  extolled  by  Hayley  in  his  epistle  to  his 
friend  Romney,  who  was  one  of  the  most  constant  and  well-behaved 
students  in  his  Grace's  gallery.'  The  gallery  was  re-opened  in  1770, 
and  placed  in  charge  of  the  Society  of  Artists.  In  addition  to  Cipriani 
and  Wilton,  Moser  also  taught  there. 

Romney  painted  several  portraits  of  the  Duke  at  different  periods  of 
his  life,  one  of  them  early  in  1776,  shortly  after  his  return  from  Italy, 
which  was  engraved  in  mezzotint  by  James  Watson  in  1778.  Another 
portrait,  possibly  a  version  of  the  1776  canvas,  30  in.  x  25in.,  in  which 
the  Duke  is  shown,  in  a  blue  coat,  seated  under  a  tree,  and  reading 
a  book,  which  was  sold  at  Messrs.  Christie's  on  December  12th,  1903, 
is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  C.  Fairfax  Murray.  According  to  John 
Romney,  the  last  portrait  of  his  patron  was  painted  in  1795.  Romney 
appears  to  have  made  more  than  one  replica  of  the  earliest  one  for  pre- 
sentation to  the  Duke's  friends. 

In  1763  Romney  sent  in  his  picture  of  'The  Death  of  General 
Wolfe,'  to  compete  for  the  premiums  offered  annually  by  the  Society 
of  Arts  for  historical  painting.  The  accounts  given  as  to  what  took 
place  on  this  occasion  show  some  material  differences.    The  first  prize 

43 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


was  awarded  to  Robert  Edge  Pine  for  his  picture  of  '  Canute  the  Great 
reproving  his  Courtiers  for  their  impious  flattery,'  and  the  second  one 
of  fifty  guineas  was  adjudged  to  Romney.  According  to  Cumberland, 
this  decision  was  not  reached  without  some  dissension,  '  as  it  was  appre- 
hended to  be  the  production  of  an  old  artist,  for  some  years  retired 
into  the  country,  and  who  was  accordingly  censured  for  what  was 
considered  as  an  attempt  to  impose  on  the  Society.'  This  mistake, 
however,  was  soon  cleared  up,  but  further  objections  were  made  in 
some  quarters  to  the  award,  partly,  it  is  said,  because  the  subject 
chosen  by  Romney  was  a  modern  one,  unrecorded  as  yet  by  any  his- 
torian, with  the  figures  in  the  costume  of  the  day  ;  whereas  it  was  the 
fashion  at  that  time  to  consider  no  picture  '  historical'  unless  conceived 
in  the  classical  spirit  and  dressed  in  what  was  thought  to  be  the 
appropriate  costume  of  that  remote  period.  '  Other  criticisms,  even 
more  ridiculously  minute  and  frivolous  than  the  above,  were  offered 
against  it,' continues  Cumberland;  '  as,  that  the  Officers  and  Soldiers 
were  not  all  in  their  proper  regimentals,  that  Wolfe  himself  had  on  a 
handsome  pair  of  silk  stockings,  against  the  costume  of  a  General  on 
the  field  of  battle,  and  some  objected  to  the  deadly  paleness  of  his 
countenance.' 

In  a  short  obituary  notice  of  the  artist  which  appeared  in  the 
Gentleman  s  Magazine  in  1802,  a  notice  which  bristles  with  inaccu- 
racies, it  is  stated  that  the  picture  '  was  smuggled  by  his  friends  into  an 
Exhibition  ;  but  the  Committee  decreed  to  it  only  the  second  prize,  on 
account  of  the  omission  of  boots  on  the  general's  legs  ;  and  the  picture 
was  instantly  sold  for  a  large  sum.' 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  real  reason,  the  committee's  decision 
was  rescinded,  and  the  second  premium  given  to  John  Hamilton 
Mortimer  for  his  '  Edward  the  Confessor  spoiling  his  Mother  at  Win- 
chester,' while  a  special  prize  of  twenty-five  guineas  was  voted  to 
Romney  as  a  solatium,  not,  says  his  son,  '  as  a  compensation  for  any 
disappointment  he  might  have  suffered,  but  as  a  recompence  due  to 
the  merit  of  his  picture.'  In  the  catalogue  of  the  Exhibition  of  the 
Free  Society  it  is  stated  that  '  to  this  picture  was  adjudged  a  bounty 
(twenty-five  guineas)  this  present  year.' 

John  Romney  declares  that  the  person  to  whose  interference  this 
reversal  of  opinion  was  due,  was  'the  illustrious  Reynolds.'  The 
indignant  son,  in  his  attempts  to  prove  that  Sir  Joshua  always  hated 
Romney,  and  did  his  best  to  ruin  him,  scenting  a  serious  rival  from  the 
very  beginning,  when  the  new-comer  was  almost  unknown,  launches 
44 


LADY  HAMILTON  AS  A  BACCHANTK 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  MK.  TANKERVILLE  CHAMBERLAVNE 

Pages  114,  204,  314 


PLATE  X 


ANNA  SEWARD 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF   MR.   T.   L.  BUKROWES 

Pages  120,  /js 


'THE  DEATH   OF  GENERAL  WOLFE' 


forth  into  language  of  such  violent  exaggeration  as  to  become  merely 
ridiculous.  'Can  he  be  regarded  as  an  impartial  judge?'  he  asks, 
speaking  of  Reynolds.  '  He  was  too  much  versed  in  his  profession,  and 
had  too  shrewd  an  intellect  not  to  perceive  in  the  author  of  that  pic- 
ture a  future  rival.  Let  any  one  indeed  look  at  the  portraits  painted 
by  Mr.  Romney  at  that  time,  and  see  whether  there  was  not  sufficient 
ground  for  jealousy  on  the  part  of  Reynolds.  .  .  .  The  following  prin- 
ciple, laid  down  by  Sir  Joshua  himself,  and  grounded  upon  his  own 
feelings,  establishes  the  truth  of  my  observations,  "  that  it  was  impos- 
sible for  two  painters  in  the  same  department  of  the  art  to  continue 
long  in  friendship  with  each  other."  '  After  this,  no  doubt  thinking  he 
had  gone  a  little  too  far,  he  suggests  that  Reynolds  may  have  been 
influenced  by  a  less  personal  reason — his  friendship  for  Mortimer,  an 
old  pupil  of  his  master  Hudson,  who  was  no  portrait  painter,  and  who 
afterwards  gave  proof  of  his  gratitude  by  dedicating  his  etchings  to  the 
President.  '  It  was  not  to  be  tolerated,  that  a  young  man  from  the 
country  of  whom  no  one  knew  anything,  should  carry  away  the  prize 
from  a  student  of  such  high  pretensions.  ...  It  may  be  mentioned, 
also,  as  an  additional  indication  of  jealous  feeling  on  the  part  of 
Reynolds,  that  not  the  slightest  intercourse,  at  any  time,  subsisted 
between  him  and  Mr.  Romney  ;  this  could  not,  at  first,  have  arisen 
from  any  backwardness  on  the  side  of  the  latter,  because  the  notice  of 
so  distinguished  an  individual  would  have  been  of  great  advantage  to 
Mr.  Romney  ;  unless,  as  some  say,  he  had  felt  himself  aggrieved  by  the 
interference  of  Reynolds,  in  depriving  him  of  the  merited  premium.' 

John  Romney,  at  the  end  of  this  somewhat  absurd  attack,  is  obliged 
to  confess  that  his  father  never  at  any  time  mentioned  the  subject  to 
him,  but  that  he  gathered  the  information  from  '  different  persons  at 
that  time  qualified  to  judge.' 

His  book,  indeed,  is  marred  throughout  by  a  continual  attempt  to 
belittle  Sir  Joshua,  and  the  conduct  he  imputes  to  him  in  this  par- 
ticular case  would  have  been  quite  impossible  to  a  man  of  so  upright 
a  character  as  Reynolds. 

Richard  Cumberland,  in  his  brief  memoir  in  The  European  Maga- 
zine, is  almost  equally  emphatic.  He  wisely  mentions  no  names,  but 
every  one  at  the  time  knew  at  whom  his  arrows  were  aimed.  '  The 
decree  was  reversed,'  he  wrote,  '  and  poor  Romney,  friendless  and  un- 
known, was  set  aside  in  favour  of  a  rival  better  supported  ;  a  hardship 
so  obvious,  and  a  partiality  so  glaring,  that  the  Committee  could 
not  face  the  transaction,  but  voted  him  a  premium  extraordinary, 

45 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


nearly,  if  not  quite,  to  the  amount  of  the  prize  he  had  been  de- 
prived of.' 

Hayley's  account  of  the  business  seems  to  be  the  most  natural  one, 
and  the  nearest  to  the  truth.  He  received  it  from  the  artist  himself, 
so  that  it  should  carry  with  it  a  certain  amount  of  conviction.  His 
version  is  as  follows  : — '  The  candid  Romney,  in  relating  this  very 
interesting  incident  of  his  life  to  me,  completely  absolved  those  judges 
of  the  contest,  who  gave  their  final  sentence  against  him.  He  told  me, 
with  that  ingenuous  spirit,  which  was  one  of  his  amiable  characteristics, 
that  Reynolds  was  the  person  who,  with  great  justice,  contended,  that 
the  second  prize  of  50  guineas  was  due  to  Mortimer  for  his  picture, 
.  .  .  a  picture  which  Romney  most  liberally  acknowledged  to  be  so 
strikingly  superior  to  his  own  death  of  Wolfe,  that  he  was  far  from 
repining  at  being  obliged  to  relinquish  a  prize  too  hastily  assigned  to 
him  ;  and  he  therefore  accepted  with  lively  gratitude  a  present  of  twenty- 
five  guineas,  which  the  Committee  gave  him,  not  as  a  compensation  for 
an  injury  received,  but  as  a  free  and  liberal  encouragement  to  his  promis- 
ing talents.'  It  may  be  doubted  whether  Romney  was  entirely  sincere 
in  placing  his  own  work  so  much  below  his  rival's,  for  he  gave  the 
information  to  one  who  was  already  singled  out  as  his  future  bio- 
grapher ;  and  so  would  naturally  speak  with  a  certain  amount  of 
cautious  reserve ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  he  thought 
Reynolds  was  actuated  by  anything  but  a  sense  of  justice  and  an 
honest  conviction  as  to  which  of  the  two  was  the  better  picture. 

A  short  paragraph  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  March  11th, 
1763,  offers,  perhaps,  a  still  simpler  explanation.  It  runs  : — '  The  prize 
pictures  were  opened  at  the  Society's  office  in  the  Strand ;  the  subjects 
of  which  are  as  follows  :  Canute  reproving  the  flattering  courtiers  ;  for 
this  piece  the  painter  has  been  adjudged  the  first  prize  of  100  guineas. 
The  Death  of  Gen.  Wolfe ;  this  piece  was  put  in  competition  for  the 
first  prize,  but  was  adjudged  inferior  to  the  former  in  merit ;  and  as  it 
could  not  be  admitted  for  the  second  prize,  a  compliment  of  five  and 
twenty  guineas  was  paid  the  painter  as  an  encouragement  to  merit. 
Caractacus  before  the  Roman  Emperor  Claudius,  Edward  the  Black 
Prince  introducing  his  prisoner,  the  French  king,  to  his  father  Edw.  III., 
Edward  the  confessor  plundering  his  mother  of  her  effects ;  for  this 
piece  the  author  received  the  second  premium  of  50  guineas.  There 
are  besides  ten  landscapes  ;  their  merits  not  yet  determined.' 

This  account  is  confusing ;  but  it  seems  to  point  to  the  fact  that 
the  competition  for  historical  painting  was  divided  into  two  classes,  one 
46 


JOHN   HAMILTON  MORTIMER 


with  a  prize  of  one  hundred  and  the  other  with  one  of  fifty  guineas  ; 
and  that  those  pictures  which  had  not  been  successful  in  the  first  divi- 
sion were  debarred  from  competing  in  the  second.  If  this  were  so, 
then  Romney  had  no  cause  for  complaint  against  the  Society  for  award- 
ing the  latter  to  Mortimer.  It  is  difficult  to  see  what  other  reason 
there  could  be  for  stating  that  the  '  Death  of  General  Wolfe '  '  could 
not  be  admitted  for  the  second  prize.' 

Mortimer  was  only  twenty-two  at  the  time,  nearly  seven  years 
younger  than  Romney,  and  with  this  picture  his  reputation  became 
firmly  established.  He  had  already  made  something  of  a  name  by 
decorating  the  panels  of  the  King's  state  coach  with  battle  scenes, 
which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  populace,  and  delighted  the  young 
monarch,  who  is  said  to  have  had  the  panel  of  the  '  Battle  of  Agincourt ' 
taken  out  and  framed,  and  to  have  given  some  patronage  to  the  painter. 
It  is  certainly  not  true  to  say,  as  John  Romney  does,  that  Mortimer 
painted  no  portraits,  for  he  produced  a  number,  but  though  clever  at 
seizing  a  likeness  his  art  lacked  good  colour,  and  so  his  attempts  in  this 
field  were  unprofitable.  His  subject  pictures  were  marked  by  exag- 
geration of  expression  and  movement,  and  a  straining  after  muscular 
force.  He  was,  like  Cosway,  one  of  the  dandy  painters,  and  in  his 
earlier  days  preferred  the  bottle  to  the  brush,  being  more  anxious  to  be 
looked  upon  as  a  man  about  town  and  an  athlete  than  an  artist.  He 
followed  up  his  success  of  1703  by  winning,  in  the  following  year,  the 
first  prize  of  100  guineas  given  by  the  Society  with  a  picture  of  '  St. 
Paul  preaching  to  the  antient  Druids  in  Britain.'  Romney  declined 
to  enter  into  contest  with  him  again.  He  was  too  busily  engaged  in 
painting  portraits,  his  son  says,  to  finish  a  second  historical  picture  in 
time ;  but  it  is  more  likely  that  a  man  of  Romney's  character  would 
not  immediately  recover  from  such  a  rebuff.  The  dispute  and  the  talk 
it  produced  did  the  artist  some  good,  as  it  brought  his  name  promi- 
nently into  notice,  and  drew  greater  attention  to  his  undoubted  abili- 
ties. The  picture  itself,  which  was  included  with  the  other  prize-winning 
works  in  the  Exhibition  of  the  Free  Society,  together  with  '  A  Scene  in 
King  Lear,'  was  purchased  by  his  friend  Mr.  Rowland  Stephenson, 
already  mentioned,  for  twenty-five  guineas,  and  presented  by  him  to 
Governor  Verelst,  who  placed  it  in  the  Council  Chamber  in  Calcutta, 
so  that  its  fate  was  an  honourable  one.  It  is  no  longer  there,  however, 
and  its  present  whereabouts  cannot  be  discovered. 

This  episode  of  Romney's  early  life  in  London  has  been  given  in 
some  detail,  because  in  spite  of  the  artist's  protest  to  the  contrary,  it 

47 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


may  well  have  been  one  of  the  causes  of  the  strong  antipathy  which 
existed  between  the  two  men  throughout  their  professional  careers. 
Coupled  with  Romney's  unsociable  habits  and  indifference  to  the 
society  of  most  of  his  fellow  artists,  it  was  very  probably  one  of  the 
first  causes  of  that  lack  of  sympathy  between  the  two  painters,  which 
gradually  deepened  into  rivalry,  tempered  by  no  outward  signs  of 
friendliness  or  even  ordinary  acquaintanceship. 

In  the  spring  of  1764  Romney  had  removed  to  James  Street, 
Covent  Garden,  from  which  address  he  sent  to  the  Exhibition  of  the 
Free  Society  the  '  Portrait  of  a  Young  Lady,'  and  an  unfinished  version 
of '  Samson  and  Delilah.'  He  was  by  this  time  busily  occupied  with 
portrait-painting,  and  was  making  every  effort  to  save  enough  money 
to  enable  him  to  pay  at  least  a  short  visit  to  the  Continent,  in  order 
that  he  might  gain  a  wider  knowledge  of  the  work  of  the  older  masters 
than  he  had  as  yet  had  an  opportunity  of  doing.  He  not  only  wanted 
this  experience  in  order  that  he  might  improve  his  painting,  and  enlarge 
his  ideas — and  this  desire  to  learn  more  and  more  of  his  art  was  un- 
doubtedly the  ruling  passion  of  his  life — but  also  for  reasons  of  policy. 
It  was  at  that  time  considered  almost  indispensable  for  a  painter  to 
visit  Italy,  or,  if  he  could  not  go  so  far  afield,  one  or  other  of  the  more 
easily  accessible  continental  art  centres,  if  he  wished  to  be  regarded  as 
an  artist  of  real  accomplishment.  There  were  exceptions,  no  doubt, 
but  not  many,  the  only  painter  of  first  importance  who  never  had  the 
advantage  of  foreign  travel  being  Thomas  Gainsborough.  Sitters  were 
apt  to  ask  an  artist  where  he  had  studied,  and  to  think  less  highly  of 
his  work  if  he  were  obliged  to  confess  he  had  seen  none  of  the  great 
Italian  galleries.  It  was  supposed  to  make,  and  no  doubt  it  did,  a  con- 
siderable difference  in  the  number  of  commissions  received,  and  for  this 
reason  most  painters  made  great  efforts  to  scrape  together  enough 
money  to  carry  them  abroad  for  at  least  a  year.  Romney,  his  son  tells 
us,  '  felt  himself  humbled  by  this  acknowledged  defect,  which  compelled 
him  to  paint  for  lower  prices,  and  to  assume  a  tone  of  pretension  far 
below  his  deserts.'  He  worked  his  hardest,  therefore,  with  this  object 
in  view,  but  as  some  part  of  the  modest  fees  he  gained  had  to  be  sent 
to  the  north,  and,  in  addition,  his  brothers  were  a  source  of  expense  to 
him  on  more  than  one  occasion,  it  was  some  time  before  he  had  saved 
enough  to  allow  him  to  pay  a  short  visit  to  Paris.  Italy  was,  for  the 
present,  quite  out  of  his  reach. 


48 


VIII 


ROMNEY  started  for  Paris  early  in  September  1764,  having  for 
travelling  companion  Thomas  Greene,  a  lawyer,  of  Gray's 
Inn,  one  of  his  oldest  and  closest  friends,  and  his  junior  by 
three  years.  Their  acquaintanceship  was  brought  about,  indirectly, 
by  the  Rebellion  of  1745,  in  which  year  Greene's  father  moved  his 
family  from  Slyne,  near  Lancaster,  into  Furness  for  safety,  and  sent 
his  boy  to  the  Dendron  village  school,  where  one  of  Romney's  younger 
brothers  was  still  boarding.  He  spent  more  than  one  week-end 
holiday  at  Upper  Cocken  with  his  schoolfellow,  and  became  greatly 
attached  to  George,  who  was  then  working  at  his  father's  trade,  and, 
according  to  Richard  Cumberland,  '  endeared  himself  to  his  young 
visitor  by  a  variety  of  kind  offices  and  attentions,  calculated  to  win 
the  open  heart  of  a  boy  in  whom  all  the  principles  of  gratitude  and 
affection  were  innate.  Thus  by  the  recommendation  of  a  few  childish 
toys,  wrought  by  his  own  hand,  the  young  mechanic  laid  the  first 
foundation  of  a  friendship  in  the  heart  of  one  of  the  best  men  living, 
who  never  failed  to  feel  for  him,  and  to  serve  him,  through  all  the 
changes  and  chances  of  his  various  life ;  and  now,  after  his  decease, 
continues  faithful  and  affectionate  to  his  memory ;  studious,  by  every 
means,  to  deliver  down  his  name  with  credit  to  posterity,  and  success- 
ful in  all  his  exertions  for  the  fame  and  honour  of  his  departed  friend. 
.  .  .  Thus  let  the  names  of  Romney  and  Greene  descend  together  to 
succeeding  ages ;  and  so  long  as  these  memoirs  shall  survive,  whilst 
they  record  the  genius  of  the  one,  let  them  bear  this  testimony  to 
the  benevolence  of  the  other.' 

When  Romney  removed  to  London,  Greene  helped  him  in  many 
ways,  and  acted  as  his  professional  adviser  all  his  life.  He  was, 
according  to  Hayley,  a  '  careful  attorney,'  and  '  universally  regarded 
for  chearful  indulgent  probity,  and  alert  benevolence.'  Romney 
painted  his  portrait  several  times,  and  also  that  of  his  sister. 
These  are  still  in  the  possession  of  his  descendant,  Mr.  H. 
Dawson-Greene,  of  Whittington  Hall,  Kirkby  Lonsdale,  together 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


with  the  large  group  of'  Flaxman  modelling  the  Bust  of  Hayley,'  and 
several  other  works  by  Romney.  The  earliest  portrait  of  Greene  is 
reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower's  book. 

The  two  friends  travelled  by  way  of  Dunkirk  and  Lille,  and 
remained  in  Paris  for  some  six  weeks.  Soon  after  their  arrival 
Romney  wrote  to  his  brother  Peter  in  a  severely  critical  mood  respecting 
modern  French  taste  and  art.  He  found  that  'the  degeneracy  of 
taste  that  runs  through  every  thing,  is  farther  gone  here  than  in 
London.  The  ridiculous  and  fantastical  are  the  only  points  they  seem 
to  aim  at.  The  paintings  I  have  yet  seen,  are  not  much  better,  I 
mean  by  the  present  masters ;  but  those  of  the  time  of  Louis  the 
fourteenth  are  very  great,  and  every  church  and  palace  is  filled 
with  them.' 

Every  moment  of  their  time  was  spent  in  studying  pictures,  and 
in  visiting  the  most  celebrated  collections.  They  received  much 
attention  from  Joseph  Vernet,  one  of  the  most  highly  considered 
artists  of  the  day,  who  was  then  working  upon  a  series  of  views  of  the 
seaports  of  France,  a  commission  from  Louis  xv. ,  who  allowed  him  a 
room  in  the  Louvre  for  his  studio.  Vernet  accompanied  Romney 
to  various  places  of  interest,  such  as  Versailles,  Marly,  and  Saint-Cloud, 
and  obtained  for  him  free  access  to  the  Orleans  collection  in  the 
Palais  Royal,  where  the  Englishman  spent  much  of  his  time. 

Among  the  French  painters,  the  works  of  Le  Sueur  seemed  to  him 
to  be  the  most  attractive,  and  of  the  old  masters  it  was  probably 
Rubens  whose  pictures  had  the  most  immediate  effect  upon  his  own 
methods  of  painting.  In  the  Luxembourg  Gallery  he  had  every 
opportunity  of  studying  the  great  Fleming  to  good  advantage,  as  well 
as  many  of  the  masterpieces  of  other  painters  now  in  the  Louvre. 

Upon  his  return  to  London,  Romney  moved  into  new  rooms  at 
5,  Coney  Court,  Gray  s  Inn,  close  to  his  friend  Greene,  who  recom- 
mended him  to  a  number  of  legal  acquaintances.  One  of  his  first 
undertakings  was  a  full-length  portrait  of  Sir  Joseph  Yates,  in  his 
robes  as  a  judge  of  the  King's  Bench,  which  was  considered  to  be  an 
excellent  work,  and  secured  for  him  commissions  to  paint  more  than 
one  eminent  lawyer,  including  Mr.  Secondary  Barnes.  He  was  also 
occupied  with  an  historical  subject,  '  The  Death  of  King  Edmund,' 
which  he  sent  for  competition  to  the  Society  of  Arts  in  the  following- 
spring,  and  with  it  obtained  the  second  premium  of  fifty  guineas,  the 
first  prize  falling  to  Hamilton  for  his  '  British  Queen  Boadicea  and  her 
Daughters.'  Romney's  picture  failed  to  find  a  purchaser,  and, 
50 


PAYS  TWO  VISITS  TO   THE  NORTH 


according  to  his  son,  was  destroyed  some  years  later,  because  it  took 
up  too  much  room  in  his  studio. 

In  1765  he  exhibited  at  the  Free  Society  of  Artists  '  a  portrait 
of  a  gentleman,  three-quarters,' 1  and  '  a  lady's  head  in  the  character  of 
a  saint,'  of  similar  size.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  he  went  to  the 
north  to  visit  his  family,  but  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  time  at 
Lancaster,  where  he  painted  a  number  of  portraits.  In  the  following 
year  1766,  his  exhibited  pictures  were  another  'three-quarters'  'Por- 
trait of  a  Gentleman,'  and  'A  Conversation.'  The  last-named  repre- 
sented his  brothers  Peter  and  James,  the  former  seated  at  his  easel, 
explaining  a  proposition  of  Euclid  to  the  latter,  who  is  standing  by 
him,  with  his  arm  resting  on  the  chair  back.  It  was  in  the  possession 
of  John  Romney  when  he  was  engaged  in  writing  his  book,  and  he 
describes  it  as  '  well  composed,  and  with  good  effect,  and  the  colouring 
is  clear  and  delicate ;  the  figures  are  about  two  feet  and  a  half 
high.' 

In  1767  Romney  paid  a  second  visit  to  his  old  home,  and  once 
again  was  so  busily  engaged  in  painting  portraits  at  Lancaster  and 
elsewhere,  that  he  was  obliged  to  take  some  of  them  back  with  him  to 
London  to  finish.  His  brother  Peter  returned  with  him  to  town,  but 
he  was  so  lazy  and  extravagant  in  his  habits  that  Romney  was  forced 
to  pack  him  off  home  again. 

His  son  notices  a  considerable  improvement  in  his  style  between 
these  two  visits,  short  as  the  interval  was.  On  getting  back  to  town 
he  made  another  change  of  lodgings,  this  time  to  the  '  Golden  Head,' 
in  Great  Newport  Street,  Long  Acre,  a  locality  from  which  Reynolds 
had  removed  only  a  few  years  before.2  This  year  he  exhibited 
'  Portraits  of  two  sisters,  half-length,'  which  was  engraved  in  mezzotint 
by  Robert  Dunkerton  in  1770  under  the  title  of  '  Sisters  contemplating 
on  Mortality.'  This  was  priced  at  twenty  guineas  in  the  catalogue. 
A  contemporary  writer  noted  that  '  the  portraits  of  two  sisters  is  a  fine 
picture  in  the  style  of  Mr.  Reynolds,'  while  a  second  critic  wrote,  '  the 
heads  in  profile,  very  fine,  but  his  colouring  in  general  too  cold.' 

In  1768  he  sent  to  the  Exhibition  a  large  '  Family  Piece,'  repre- 

1  The  term  'three-quarters/  used  in  the  Exhibition  catalogues  of  those  days,  and  frequently  by 
John  Romney  in  his  Life,  means  a  canvas  30  in.  x  25  in.,  or  three-quarters  of  a  kit-cat.  A 
'kit-cat'  was  35  in.  x  26  in.,  a  'half-length,'  50  in.  x  40  in.  ;  a  'half-whole-length,'  G3  in.  x  50 
in.,  and  a  '  whole-length,'  93  in.  x  57  in. 

2  The  house  inhabited  by  the  President  is  the  one  now  known  as  the  '  Reynolds  Galleries,' 
belonging  to  Messrs.  Rutley,  which  contains  the  original  staircase  ;  but  the  '  Golden  Head  '  has 
disappeared,  and  it  is  not  even  known  on  which  side  of  the  street  it  stood. 

51 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


senting  a  Mr.  Leigh,  a  proctor  in  Doctors'  Commons,  with  his  wife 
and  six  children  ;  and  two  portraits  of  gentlemen.  It  was  in  this  year 
that  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Richard  Cumberland,  the  dramatist, 
who,  pleased  with  what  he  had  seen  of  his  work,  came  to  sit  to  him. 
This  was  for  the  half-length  portrait  engraved  in  stipple  by  William 
Evans  as  a  frontispiece  for  Cumberland's  own  Memoirs,  published  in 
1806,  which  represents  the  poet  seated,  dressed  in  a  loose  robe  or 
cloak,  with  his  left  arm  resting  on  a  table,  turned  to  the  right,  with 
the  face  almost  in  profile,  and  looking  up. 

Richard  Cumberland,  who  was  two  years  older  than  Romney,  was 
born  at  Cambridge  in  1732.  He  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Denison 
Cumberland,  and  great-grandson  of  Richard  Cumberland,  bishop  of 
Peterborough.  He  was  educated  at  Westminster,  and  at  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  and  became  a  most  prolific  dramatist,  writing 
between  forty  and  fifty  plays,  all  of  which  have  been  forgotten,  even 
The  West  Indian,  which  was  considered  his  masterpiece.  As  a 
young  man  he  acted  as  secretary  to  Lord  Halifax,  and  went  with  him 
to  Ireland  in  1761,  his  father  being  at  the  same  time  appointed  to  the 
see  of  Clonfert.  In  1762  he  received  the  office  of  Clerk  of  Reports  to 
the  Board  of  Trade,  and  in  1769  his  play  The  Brothers  was  produced 
with  considerable  success  at  Covent  Garden,  while  Garrick  staged 
The  West  Indian  in  1771.  In  1775  he  became  Secretary  to  the 
Board  of  Trade,  and  in  1780  went  on  a  secret  mission  to  Spain.  At 
the  period  when  he  first  made  the  acquaintance  of  Romney,  he  was 
already  one  of  the  best-known  writers  of  the  day,  and  more  or  less 
intimate  with  the  leading  painters,  poets,  and  actors.  At  a  later  date 
his  plays  were  knocked  out  of  fashion  by  Sheridan  and  Goldsmith. 
The  former  satirised  him  as  '  Sir  Fretful  Plagiary  '  in  the  Critic,  and 
the  latter  was  far  from  complimentary  to  him  in  Retaliation. 
Garrick,  who  made  use  of  him  as  long  as  his  plays  were  popular,  was 
outspoken  about  him  behind  his  back,  and  declared  that  he  had  to 
cook  up  his  efforts  before  the  public  would  swallow  them,  and  called 
him  '  a  man  without  a  skin.' 

Like  Hayley,  Cumberland  never  hesitated  to  accept  portraits  from 
Romney  in  return  for  singing  the  painter's  praises  in  the  public  prints. 
In  this  way  he  obtained  at  least  one  likeness  of  himself,  and  others  of 
his  wife  and  daughters.  Nor  was  he  too  proud  to  accept  monetary 
assistance  from  Romney,  who  lent  him  a  hundred  pounds  on  his  return 
from  Spain  in  1781. 

Romney  also  painted  for  him  a  copy  of  a  portrait  of  his  great- 
52 


GAR  RICK'S  CRITICISMS 


grandfather,  Bishop  of  Peterborough  (1632-1718),  by  Murray,  for 
presentation  to  Magdalene  College,  Cambridge. 

Before  his  portrait  was  finished,  Cumberland  took  David  Garrick 
to  see  it.  The  great  actor  was  very  frank  in  his  criticisms  of  both  it 
and  the  big  portrait  group  of  the  Leigh  family,  which  was  then  in  the 
studio,  and  gave  Romney  some  offence  in  so  doing. 

Cumberland's  account  of  the  visit  is  entertaining.  '  I  brought 
Garrick  to  see  his  pictures,  hoping  to  interest  him  in  his  favour ;  a 
large  family  piece1  unluckily  arrested  his  attention;  a  gentleman  in  a 
close-buckled  bob  wig  and  a  scarlet  waistcoat  laced  with  gold,  with 
his  wife  and  children  (some  sitting,  some  standing)  had  taken  possession 
of  some  yards  of  canvass,  very  much,  as  it  appeared,  to  their  own  satis- 
faction, for  they  were  perfectly  amused  in  a  contented  abstinence  from 
all  thought  or  action.  Upon  this  unfortunate  groupe  when  Garrick 
had  fixed  his  lynx's  eyes,  he  began  to  put  himself  into  the  attitude  of 
the  gentleman,  and  turning  to  Mr.  Romney — "  Upon  my  word,  sir," 
said  he,  "this  is  a  very  regular  well-ordered  family,  and  that  is  a  very 
bright  well-rubbed  mahogany  table,  at  which  that  motherly  good  lady 
is  sitting,  and  this  worthy  gentleman  in  the  scarlet  waistcoat  is  doubt- 
less a  very  excellent  subject  to  the  state,  I  mean  (if  all  these  are  his 
children)  but  not  for  your  art,  Mr.  Romney,  if  you  mean  to  pursue  it 
with  that  success,  which  I  hope  will  attend  you — "  The  modest  artist 
took  the  hint,  as  it  was  meant,  in  good  part,  and  turned  his  family 
with  their  faces  to  the  wall.  When  Romney  produced  my  portrait, 
not  yet  finished — It  was  very  well,  Garrick  observed  ;  "  That  is  very 
like  my  friend,  and  that  blue  coat  with  a  red  cape  is  very  like  the  coat 
he  has  on,  but  you  must  give  him  something  to  do  ;  put  a  pen  in  his 
hand,  a  paper  on  his  table,  and  make  him  a  poet ;  if  you  can  once  set 
him  down  to  his  writing,  who  knows  but  in  time  he  may  write  some- 
thing in  your  praise." ' 

'  Sallies  such  as  these,'  says  Allan  Cunningham, '  sank  deep  into  the 
mind  of  Romney :  he  was  extremely  sensitive ;  a  piece  of  captious 
criticism,  a  touch  of  smart  wit,  or  even  a  little  humorous  raillery, 
damped  and  disconcerted  him,  and  paralysed  his  hand  in  whatever  he 
was  engaged  on.' 

John  Romney  waxes  highly  indignant  over  this  incident,  and  enters 
into  an  elaborate  defence  of  the  picture.  He  says  that  both  Cumber- 
land and  Garrick  '  seem  to  have  indulged  themselves  too  freely  in 
sarcasm,  the  former  at  the  expense  of  truth,  and  the  latter,  of  good 

1  The  Leigh  family  group. 

r>3 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


manners.  But  how  could  candour  be  expected  from  Garrick.  an  inti- 
mate friend  of  Reynolds  ? '  He  goes  on  to  say  that  it  was  the  regular 
custom  of  his  father  to  make  sketches  for  his  principal  works,  and  that 
sometimes  he  made  several  studies  for  one  picture,  with  variations  ;  and 
he  describes  one  or  two  made  for  the  Leigh  group,  '  to  none  of  which 
the  observations  of  Mr.  Cumberland  can  with  any  truth  apply ;  .  .  .  but 
Cumberland's  propensity  to  humour  was  so  irresistible,  that  he  was 
frequently  led  to  indulge  it  at  the  expense  of  his  friends.'  The  poet, 
however,  a  sincere  admirer  of  Romney's  work,  was  always  a  good  friend 
to  the  painter,  and  it  was  he  who  persuaded  him  to  raise  his  prices  for 
a  three-quarters  portrait  from  eight  guineas  to  ten.  '  When  I  first 
knew  Romney,'  he  says,  '  he  was  poorly  lodged  in  Newport  Street,  and 
painted  at  the  small  price  of  eight  guineas  for  a  three-quarters  portrait ; 
I  sate  to  him,  and  was  the  first  who  encouraged  him  to  advance  his 
terms,  by  paying  him  ten  guineas  for  his  performance.'  Romney's 
scale  of  prices  for  portraits  of  this  size  (30  in.  x  25  in.)  was  three  guineas 
in  1762  ;  five  guineas  in  1765  ;  seven  guineas  in  1767  ;  eight  guineas  in 
1768;  ten  guineas  in  1769  ;  and  was  raised  to  twelve  guineas  before  he 
went  to  Italy. 

In  1769  he  exhibited  two  whole-lengths  of  ladies,  and  another  'Family 
Piece,'  a  portrait  group  of  Sir  George  Warren,  his  wife,  and  daughter, 
the  latter  caressing  a  bullfinch  which  sits  on  her  hand,  which  John 
Romney  describes  from  a  preliminary  study  in  one  of  his  father's 
sketch  books.  One  of  Romney's  friends  told  Hayley  that  this  picture 
was  an  early  source  of  the  painter's  popularity ;  and  that  its  truth, 
nature,  and  tenderness,  had  a  great  influence  in  making  his  name  more 
widely  known.  This  picture,  which  has  never  been  engraved  or 
exhibited,  belongs  to  Lord  Vernon,  and  is  now  at  Sudbury  Hall,  in 
Derbyshire,  where  for  many  years  it  was  regarded  as  a  fine  early  work 
by  Reynolds.  It  was  at  Pointon  Hall,  in  Cheshire,  until  about  1830,  at 
which  time  the  Poynton  estates  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Vernon 
family.  It  is  one  of  the  most  successful  works  Romney  painted  before 
going  to  Italy.  Sir  George  is  represented  standing,  pointing  to  the 
Colosseum,  which  Romney  has  indicated  in  the  background.  Lady 
W arren  is  seated,  with  her  left  arm  round  her  small  daughter's  neck. 

Another  work  of  1769  was  the  portrait  of  Bishop  Watson,  who  was 
painted  standing  in  his  laboratory  as  professor  of  chemistry  at  Cam- 
bridge. It  is  stated  in  the  Cunningham  MSS.  that  when  Hayley 
published  his  life  of  Romney,  Watson  wrote  to  him,  '  I  had  little 
acquaintance  with  Romney  as  a  man  ;  and  there  were  some  traits  in 
54 


I'l.A  I  E  XI 


GEORGE  ROMNEY  PAINTED  BY  HIMSELF 

IX   THE  NATIONAL  PORTRAIT  GALLERY 

Pages  122,  264 


PLA  TE  XII 


LADY  RUSSELL  AND  HER  SON 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  SIR  G.  A.   RUSSELL,  BT. 

Pages  134,  311-12 


'MIRTH'  AND  'MELANCHOLY 


his  character  which  had  been  reported  to  me  that  deterred  me  from 
cultivating  an  intimacy  with  him.  But  these  matters  may  probably 
have  been  misrepresented  to  me.' 

It  was  in  this  year,  too,  that  one  of  his  early  friends,  William 
Cockin,  a  writing  master  and  teacher  of  arithmetic,  whom  he  had  first 
known  in  Lancaster,  wrote  a  poetic  epistle  in  honour  of  the  painter,  in 
which  he  exhorted  him  to  '  be  the  Reynolds  of  thy  later  day.'  It  is  a 
twaddling  effusion  at  the  best,  but  the  writer  thought  it  worthy  of 
publication  in  1776,  in  a  small  volume  with  some  other  verses. 

In  1770  Romney  ceased  exhibiting  with  the  Free  Society  and  con- 
tributed two  pictures  to  the  exhibition  of  the  Incorporated  Society  of 
Artists  in  Spring  Gardens.  These  were  whole-length  figures  represent- 
ing '  Mirth  '  and  'Melancholy,'  suggested  by  Milton's  IS  Allegro  and 
//  Penseroso. 

Cumberland,  who  saw  these  pictures  in  the  studio  before  they  were 
sent  in  to  the  exhibition,  was  much  exercised  in  his  mind  as  to  the 
titles  Romney  should  give  them,  and  wrote  the  following  letter  to  the 
artist  on  reaching  home. 

'  Saturday  Night,  30th  March. 

'  Sin, — Since  I  waited  upon  you  this  morning  my  mind  has  been 
wholly  occupied  with  reflecting  upon  your  fine  Compositions,  which 
you  are  preparing  for  public  exhibition.  You  will  receive  it  only  as  a 
mark  of  ignorance,  which  means  to  be  friendly,  when  I  suggest  to  you 
a  doubt  of  the  title,  which  I  understand  you  intend  to  give  to  your 
characters.  If  they  are  described  under  the  terms  of  L  Allegro  e 
Penseroso,  I  think  your  dramatis  persona?  will  be  liable  to  the  following 
objections. 

'  In  the  first  place,  the  titles  are  not  classical,  they  are  modern, 
barbarous,  and  affected.  I  am  not  master  of  so  much  Italian  as  to 
know  whether  they  are  proper,  but  I  conceive  not ;  they  are  borrowed 
from  poetry,  and  by  bringing  Milton's  descriptions  to  our  minds,  they 
rob  your  ideas  of  their  originality.  Descriptive  poetry  has  been 
frequently  assisted  by  painting,  but  I  think  the  latter  art  has  seldom 
excelled  when  the  pencil  has  copied  after  the  pen.  Mr.  West  is  now 
transcribing  an  ode  of  Horace  upon  canvass,  and  lias  flagrantly  failed. 
I  fancy  he  did  not  take  his  Death  of  General  Wolfe  from  the  faulty 
poem  called  Quebec,  or  the  Conquest  of  Canada.  No,  Sir,  let  the  poets 
wait  upon  you,  and  give  your  figures  their  natural  titles  in  their  own 
language,  or  in  established  classical  terms.  The  solemn  figure  is  strictly 

55 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


that  of  the  muse  Melpomene ;  and  Mr.  Reynolds  has  led  the  way  in 
calling  the  other  Euphrosyne.  I  think  I  should  render  those  into 
English  by  the  titles  of  Meditation  and  Mirth. 

'  You  will  receive  this  as  nothing  more  than  a  suggestion  entirely 
submitted  to  your  better  judgment,  and  of  very  little  importance  upon 
the  whole  ;  but  it  is  the  subscription  of  my  mite,  and  you  are  richly 
welcome  to  it. — I  am,  Sir,  your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

'  Richd.  Cumberland  ' 

The  '  Melancholy '  is  a  standing  figure  facing  the  spectator,  with 
eyes  raised  in  an  attitude  of  grief,  the  right  elbow  on  a  pedestal,  and 
her  head  resting  against  her  hand,  her  left  arm  hanging  by  her  side.  A 
sculptured  frieze  on  the  pedestal  depicts  a  wounded  man,  and  a  woman, 
overcome  by  grief,  supported  by  her  attendants.  The  '  Mirth  '  is  a 
dancing  figure,  holding  a  tambourine  over  her  head,  with  four  others  in 
the  background  beneath  some  trees  playing  various  musical  instru- 
ments. '  These  pictures  had  great  merit,'  writes  his  son.  '  The  drapery 
of  Melancholy  was  particularly  fine ;  its  forms  were  broad  and  grand, 
and  executed  with  such  gusto  that  Mr.  West,  many  years  after, 
complimented  Mr.  Romney  by  saying  it  was  equal  to  Raffaelle.'  They 
undoubtedly  increased  his  reputation. 

Cumberland,  under  the  inspiration  of  these  and  several  portraits 
Romney  was  then  painting,  wrote  a  set  of  verses  with  the  intention  of 
serving  the  artist  by  making  him  better  known.  The  poem  was 
published  in  his  Public  Advertiser,  and  Cumberland  afterwards 
reprinted  it  in  his  own  Memoirs. 

'  Here  I  am  tempted,'  he  wrote  in  the  latter,  '  to  insert  a  few  lines, 
which  about  this  time  I  put  together,  more,  perhaps,  for  the  purpose  of 
speaking  civilly  of  Mr.  Romney  than  for  any  other  use  that  I  could 
put  them  to ;  but  as  I  find  there  is  honourable  mention  made  of  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds  also,  I  give  the  whole  copy  as  a  further  proof  that 
neither  in  verse  or  prose  did  I  ever  fail  to  speak  of  that  celebrated 
painter  but  with  the  respect  so  justly  due.' 

The  verses,  which  have  been  often  quoted,  begin : — 

f  When  Gothic  rage  had  put  the  Arts  to  flight 
And  wrapt  the  world  in  universal  night/ 

and  conclude  with  the  following  lines  in  praise  of  Romney  : — 

'  Apart  and  bending  o'er  the  azure  tide, 
With  heavenly  Contemplation  by  his  side, 
A  pensive  artist  stands — in  thoughtful  mood, 
With  downcast  looks  he  eyes  the  ebbing  flood  ; 

56 


PORTRAITS  OF  MRS.  YATES  AND  MISS  WALLIS 


No  wild  ambition  swells  his  temperate  heart, 
Himself  as  pure,  as  patient  as  his  art, 
Nor  sullen  sorrow,  nor  intemperate  joy 
The  even  tenour  of  his  thoughts  destroy, 
An  undistinguish'd  candidate  for  fame, 
At  once  his  country's  glory  and  its  shame  : 
Rouse  then  at  length,  with  honest  pride  inspir'd, 
Romney,  advance  !  be  known  and  be  admir'd.' 

Both  pictures  were  engraved  in  mezzotint  in  the  autumn  of  the 
following  year  by  Robert  Dunkerton  under  the  titles  of  4 II  Penseroso  ' 
and  '  LAllegro,'  and  are  said  to  be  portraits  of  Mrs.  Yates  and  Mrs. 
Jordan,  but  this  is  very  doubtful.  Some  confusion  may  have  arisen 
between  the  first  of  them  and  Romney  s  portrait  of  '  Mrs.  Yates  as  the 
Tragic  Muse,'  or  'Melpomene,'  exhibited  in  1771,  and  mezzotinted  by 
Valentine  Green  in  1772. 1  Nor  must  they  be  confounded  with  the 
later  work,  now  in  the  collection  of  Lord  Leconfield,  which  is  wrongly 
entitled  '  Mirth  and  Melancholy  (Lady  Hamilton  and  Mrs.  Smith),'  in 
the  Petworth  Catalogue.  This  last  picture  was  reproduced  in  stipple 
by  John  Jones  in  1798  under  the  title  of  '  II  Penseroso  and  L'AUegro,' 
and  is  a  dual  portrait  of  Miss  Wallis,  the  actress,  painted  by  Romney 
in  1788.  It  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  artist  and  his  son,  and 
was  bought  at  the  latter's  sale,  in  1834,  by  Lord  Egremont  for  eighty- 
eight  guineas.  The  two  pictures  of  1770  were  in  Lord  Bolton's 
possession  at  the  time  when  Cumberland  wrote  his  short  memoir  of 
the  artist  in  1803 ;  and  in  1806  were  lent  by  him  to  the  British 
Institution  exhibition. 

The  year  1771  was  a  prolific  one  for  Romney.  He  exhibited  six 
pictures  at  Spring  Gardens.  Hayley,  who  regarded  himself  with  some 
complacency  as  an  art  critic,  says  that  at  this  period,  though  Romney 's 
art  was  continually  improving,  and  '  his  resemblances  were  eminently 
strong,'  yet  his  pictures,  before  he  visited  Italy,  '  discover  the  defects 
arising  from  a  want  of  studious  familiarity  with  the  great  models  of  his 
art  :  his  portraits  were  often  hard,  cold,  and  heavy.'  Among  his 
exhibited  pictures  were  the  whole  length  of '  Mrs.  Yates  as  the  Tragic 

1  This  picture  was  lent  to  the  Grafton  Gallery  Exhibition,  1900,  by  Mr.  R.  W.  Hudson.  She 
is  represented  in  classical  costume,  with  a  dagger  held  aloft  in  her  right  hand,  while  with  the  left 
she  pours  out  a  libation  upon  a  tripod.  Ten  or  twelve  years  later  Romney  painted  her  again,  a 
half-length,  in  a  white  dress  with  large  gauzy  frills,  and  elaborately  curled  hair  partly  covered  by 
a  veil,  which  was  lent  by  Lord  Llangattock  to  the  Guildhall,  1902,  and  to  the  Royal  Academy 
Winter  Exhibition,  1906.  The  eyes,  which  are  cast  upwards,  are  brown,  and  the  rosy  pink  of  the 
complexion  suggests  that  she  sat  to  Romney  in  rouge.  The  hair  has  been  hastily  and  rather  care- 
lessly painted,  and  the  white  frills  and  scarf  dashed  in  rapidly,  something  in  the  manner  of 
Gainsborough,  but  not  with  his  brilliant  touch.    (See  Plate  in.) 

57 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Muse,'  already  mentioned,  which  was  purchased  by  Alderman  Boydell 
and  praised  highly  at  the  time  '  both  as  a  faithful  likeness  of  that 
distinguished  actress,  and  as  a  well  conceived  and  correct  representation 
of  the  tragic  character';  and  another  whole  length  of  'An  Officer 
conversing  with  a  Brahmin.'  This  was  a  portrait  of  Major  Peirson,  of 
the  Honourable  East  India  Company's  service,  who  was  a  good  friend 
to  the  painter,  and  had  a  high  admiration  for  his  art.  He  was  a  man, 
says  John  Romney,  of  an  elegant  and  cultivated  mind,  interested  in 
the  advancement  of  science  and  the  improvement  of  taste.  He  was  a 
native  of  Burton-in-Kendal,  and  an  intimate  friend  of  Daniel  Braith- 
waite.  The  latter  had  a  head  of  the  Major  painted  en  medallion  by 
Romney,  from  which  a  seal  was  engraved,  which  the  artist  was  in  the 
habit  of  using.  Romney  also  painted  a  '  Madonna  and  Child '  for  him. 
In  the  picture  exhibited  at  Spring  Gardens  Major  Peirson  was  repre- 
sented standing  under  a  palm  tree,  leaning  upon  his  spontoon,  in 
earnest  conversation  with  a  Brahmin  seated  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  picture,  in  simple  dress  and  attitude,  while  a  black  servant  stood 
listening  in  the  background.  John  Romney  considered  that  '  this 
picture  may,  perhaps,  be  regarded  as  the  best  he  painted  before  he 
went  to  Italy.'  Some  sixteen  years  later,  in  1787,  he  began  what  was 
intended  to  be  a  companion  picture  to  it,  the  portraits  of  the  Major's 
only  daughter  and  heiress,  and  her  husband,  Mr.  Wogan  Browne. 
This  group,  in  which  Mrs.  Browne  was  shown  seated  at  a  table  in  the 
act  of  drawing,  while  her  husband  stood  by  her  side  on  the  left,  reach- 
ing up  to  a  shelf  of  books,  was  never  completed,  though  the  lady's 
portrait  was  almost  finished,  and  a  few  hours'  work  on  it  would  have 
been  sufficient.  It  remained  on  the  artist's  hands,  and  some  years 
after  his  father's  death  John  Romney  sold  it  for  thirty  guineas  to 
Saunders,  the  frame  maker,  who  proposed  to  have  the  finishing  touches 
put  to  it  by  Oliver. 

Another  of  the  1771  pictures  was  the  three-quarters  portrait  of  a 
'  Lady  and  Child,'  which  might  more  correctly  have  been  called  '  The 
Virgin  and  Child,'  as  it  was  painted  in  the  fashion  of  Italian  pictures 
of  that  type.  It  was,  indeed,  the  '  Madonna  and  Child '  referred  to 
above,  which  belonged  to  Major  Peirson,  and  afterwards  to  Mrs. 
Wogan  Browne,  who  also  inherited  the  portrait  of  her  father.  In  more 
recent  years  the  last  named  picture  was  at  Duddon  Hall,  near 
Broughton-in-Furness,  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  W.  Millers-Rawlinson. 
His  father,  Major  W.  S.  Rawlinson,  was  the  eldest  son  of  Mrs. 
Rawlinson  of  Graythwaite,  eldest  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Romney. 
58 


PORTRAITS   OF  1771-72 


Mr.  Millers-Rawlinson  had  a  number  of  works  by  Romney,  some  of 
which  he  disposed  of  in  his  lifetime,  while  four  were  sold,  after  his 
death,  at  Messrs.  Christie's,  on  July  5th,  1902,  the  most  important 
being  the  picture  in  question,  No.  117,  '  Major  Peirson,  of  the  East 
India  Company,  discussing  the  terms  of  a  treaty  with  a  Brahmin' 
(94  in.  x  60  in.).  The  others  were  portraits  of  Chief  Justice  James 
Mingay,  in  wig  and  gown, '  A  Young  Gentleman,'  and  '  A  Beggar  Man.' 

A  fourth  contribution  to  this  year's  exhibition  was  a  three-quarters 
of '  A  Beggar  Man,' 1  painted  in  one  sitting,  '  whereby  the  handling  is 
more  marked  and  bold,  and  the  manner  altogether  different  from  his 
usual  style  at  that  time.'  It  was  in  John  Romney 's  possession  in  1830. 
Two  portraits  completed  the  list.  One  of  these,  No.  142,  'A  Gentle- 
man ;  three-quarters,'  against  which  in  his  catalogue  Horace  Walpole 
noted, '  the  nose  seems  quite  to  project,'  may  have  been  the  well-known 
portrait  of  Richard  Cumberland,  now  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery, 
Romney 's  second  rendering  of  his  friend,  which  was  mezzotinted  by 
Valentine  Green  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year.  About  this  time  he 
also  painted  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Cumberland — upon  which  her  husband 
wrote  some  complimentary  lines,  which  he  afterwards  worked  into  his 
novel  of  Arundel,  published  in  1789 — and  several  of  their  children. 
One  of  these  was  a  small  group  (30  in.  x  25  in.)  of  the  two  daughters  ;  the 
elder,  Elizabeth,  who  afterwards  married  Lord  Edward  Bentinck,  in  a 
pink  dress,  seated,  and  holding  a  book  in  her  lap,  and  the  younger, 
Sophia,  who  married  a  Mr.  Badcock,  in  green  and  white,  standing  by 
her  side.  This  picture  was  sold  at  Christie's  on  June  14th,  1902,  for 
790  guineas.  Some  eight  years  later  Romney  painted  Lady  Edward 
again,  the  beautiful  portrait  in  which  she  is  wearing  a  large  straw  hat 
with  ribbons.  This  was  engraved  by  John  Raphael  Smith  in  1779,  and 
has  been  reproduced  very  often  in  modern  days. 

In  1772  Romney  exhibited  two  'three-quarters'  portraits,  and, 
according  to  the  catalogue,  he  was  this  year  made  a  '  Fellow '  of  the 
Incorporated  Society.  His  connection  with  the  two  artistic  institu- 
tions is  a  little  confusing.  As  already  noted  he  was  one  of  the 
hundred  members  who  signed  the  Deed  of  the  Free  Society  of  Artists 
in  1763,  and  he  exhibited  with  them  for  seven  consecutive  years,  his 
last  appearance  being  in  1769.  He  was  also  one  of  the  two  hundred 
and  eleven  painters  who  signed  the  roll  declaration  of  the  Incorporated 
Society  of  Artists  in  1766,  but  only  exhibited  with  them  in  1770  and 
the  two  following  years,  in  the  last  of  which,  as  noted  above,  he  was 

1  Possibly  the  picture  in  the  Millers-Rawlinson  sale. 

59 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


made  a  Fellow,  (F.S.A.).  No  information  is  to  be  gained  as  to  the 
reason  for  this,  but  possibly  after  signing  the  roll  of  the  last-named 
Society,  something  occurred  which  caused  him  to  take  no  active  part 
for  some  years,  but  to  remain  a  member  of  the  Free  Society. 

One  of  the  1772  portraits  was  an  '  Old  Man,'  and  the  other,  under 
the  title  of  4  An  Artist,'  a  likeness  of  Ozias  Humphry,  the  miniature 
painter,  which  was  purchased  by  the  Duke  of  Dorset,  and  placed  in 
his  collection  at  Knole.  It  was  engraved  in  mezzotint  by  Valentine 
Green  in  the  same  year,  and  at  a  later  date  in  stipple  by  Caroline 
Watson,  and  also,  according  to  J.  T.  Smith,  by  William  Pether,  in 
large  folio  size,  though  this  is  not  given  in  Mr.  H.  P.  Home's  list  of 
Romney's  engraved  works.  The  portrait  itself  was  lent  to  the 
National  Portrait  Exhibition  at  South  Kensington  in  1867  by  the 
Countess  Delawarr.  These  two  were  the  last  pictures  Romney  ever 
sent  to  a  public  exhibition. 


60 


IX 


ROMNEY'S  most  ardent  desire  to  visit  Italy  was  not  easy  of 
accomplishment.  It  required  years  of  patient  waiting,  and 
of  unremitting  toil  in  his  profession,  before  he  had  at  length 
accumulated  sufficient  money  for  the  undertaking,  one  of  considerable 
expense  in  those  days.  For  the  four  months  before  his  departure  his 
income  averaged  one  hundred  pounds  a  month,  and  that  at  a  time 
when  his  price  for  a  '  three-quarters  '  canvas  was  only  twelve  guineas. 
'  Yet,'  says  his  son,  '  he  abandoned  all  considerations  of  emolument,  so 
alluring  to  most  minds,  and  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the  study  of 
his  profession  for  two  years  and  a  quarter  in  a  foreign  country.  After 
discharging  certain  debts  which  he  had  contracted  during  his  recent 
illness,  and  leaving  two  hundred  pounds  in  the  hands  of  his  banker,  he 
set  off  with  the  remainder  for  Italy.  On  his  return  to  England  he 
found  himself  minus  fifty  pounds,  with  a  debt  incurred  by  his  brothers 
of  nearly  the  same  amount.' 

He  certainly  sacrificed  much  in  order  to  carry  out  his  great 
ambition  of  so  perfecting  himself  in  his  art,  by  a  close  study  of  the 
old  masters,  that  he  might,  in  the  end,  attain  to  the  highest  position  in 
a  profession  to  which  his  whole  energies  and  thoughts  were  devoted. 
It  required  some  little  determination  to  put  on  one  side  his  connection 
as  a  portrait  painter  just  as  it  was  becoming  lucrative,  and  at  a  time 
when  his  reputation  was  beginning  to  grow,  and  his  art  to  be  appre- 
ciated. It  must  be  remembered  that  he  was  then  in  his  thirty-ninth 
year,  an  age  when  most  of  his  contemporaries  had  finished  their  studies 
and  were  already  reaping  the  reward  of  them  in  the  practice  of  their 
art. 

He  had  intended  to  start  in  the  autumn  of  1772,  but  was  prevented 
by  a  '  violent  fever,'  followed  by  an  exceptional  rush  of  sitters,  so  that 
he  was  not  able  to  leave  England  until  the  following  spring.  His 
friend  Ozias  Humphry,  the  miniature  painter,  was  his  travelling  com- 
panion, and  the  two  left  London  on  March  20th,  1773. 

Humphry,  who  was  eight  years  his  junior,  had  suffered  a  recent 

61 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


disappointment  in  an  affair  of  the  heart.  He  had  fallen  deeply  in  love 
with  the  daughter  of  James  Payne,  the  architect,  at  that  time  living 
in  St.  Martin's  Lane  ;  but  the  lady  was  forced,  against  her  inclinations, 
to  marry  Tilly  Kettle,  the  portrait  painter.  In  consequence  of  this 
harsh  treatment,  Humphry  gave  up  his  house,  sold  his  furniture,  and 
resolved  to  go  abroad.  For  the  best  part  of  a  year  he  was  lodging  at 
Mr.  Richters,  at  the  Golden  Head,  in  Great  Newport  Street,  where 
Romney  was  then  living,  and  where  the  portrait  of  Humphry,  already 
mentioned,  was  painted  ;  and  it  was  through  the  intimacy  that  thus 
sprang  up  between  them,  that  they  resolved  to  go  to  Italy  together. 

Their  journey  was  a  leisurely  one.  They  stayed  the  first  night 
at  Sevenoaks,  and  spent  the  following  day  at  Knole  with  the  Duke  of, 
Dorset,  a  patron  of  Humphry's,  examining  his  art  treasures.  They 
travelled  by  Dover  and  Calais  to  Paris,  where  they  remained  for  two 
or  three  weeks,  putting  up  at  the  Hotel  de  York.  Roinney,  who 
throughout  his  life  had  a  great  aversion  to  writing  letters,  upon  this 
journey  kept  a  brief  journal,  hastily  scribbled  in  a  sketch  book.  These 
notes  took  the  form  of  letters,  beginning  '  Dear  Sir,'  and  were  evi- 
dently the  first  drafts  of  communications  to  be  sent  to  a  friend  at 
home,  probably  Thomas  Greene.  Whether  they  were  actually  re- 
written and  posted  is  doubtful.  By  means  of  them  it  is  possible  to 
follow  in  some  detail  the  movements  of  the  travellers,  and  it  is  greatly 
to  be  regretted  that  immediately  upon  Romney 's  arrival  in  Rome,  he 
brought  these  notes  and  reflections  to  an  abrupt  conclusion. 

The  first  letter,  for  so  it  may  be  called,  was  written  in  Paris,  and 
is  mainly  occupied  with  the  dress  and  taste  of  the  French,  whom  he 
considered  to  be  a  people  with  no  idea  of  simplicity,  and  totally  void 
of  character  and  feeling.  '  With  them  every  thing  must  be  light, 
false,  fantastical,  and  full  of  flutter  and  extravagance — like  themselves.' 
'  The  principal  difference  I  have  observed  in  dress  is,  that  the  men, 
from  the  Prince  to  the  Valet  de  Chambre,  wear  muffs  of  an  enormous 
size,  slung  round  their  waists,  always  chapeau  bras,  though  the  weather 
is  colder  here  than  I  have  felt  in  England  the  last  winter.  I  have  not 
seen  a  woman's  hat  on,  in  any  order  of  people.  It  is  a  part  of  dress 
which  gives  much  softness  to  the  face  by  throwing  it  into  half  shadow 
of  any  colour  that  the  wearer  chooses.  The  English  ladies  dress  with 
more  elegance  and  greater  variety  ;  and  as  to  beauty  and  sentiment, 
the  French  hold  no  comparison  with  them.  The  taste  for  painting, 
and  the  art  itself  are  at  the  lowest  ebb  ;  simplicity  they  call  vulgar, 
and  pure  elegance  passes  for  gravity  and  heaviness ;  every  thing 
62 


AT  LYONS  AND  AVIGNON 


must  have  the  air  of  a  dancer  or  actor,  the  colour  of  a  painted 
beauty,  and  the  dress  recommended  by  the  barber,  tailor,  and  mantua- 
maker.' 

They  left  Paris  on  the  9th  of  April,  journeying  by  diligence  as  far 
as  Chalon-sur-Saone,  and  then  by  boat  down  the  river,  reaching 
Lyons  in  a  day  and  a  half.  Romney  was  delighted  with  the  scenery, 
and,  as  a  painter  of  fair  ladies,  noted,  wherever  he  went,  the  dresses 
and  appearance  of  the  women.  At  Lyons,  he  set  down  in  his  book 
that  '  the  women  are  of  a  middle  size,  with  all  their  forms  round  and 
full  grown ;  full  chested,  and  with  necks  as  round  as  the  Venus  de 
Medici ;  their  faces  not  very  beautiful,  and  browner  than  at  Paris.' 
They  were  delayed  for  a  week  at  Lyons  through  Romney  falling  ill, 
and  then,  on  April  the  22nd,  they  hired  a  boat  and  started  for  the  two 
days'  journey  to  Avignon ;  but  the  wind  was  too  strong,  and  they  had 
to  put  in  at  St.  Esprit.  Romney  describes  the  grand  effect  of  the 
mountains  covered  with  snow,  and  gives  a  detailed  account  of  the  old 
Roman  buildings  at  Nimes ;  and  dilates  upon  the  picturesque  position 
of  Avignon. 

'  We  were  much  pleased,'  he  says,  '  with  the  dress  of  the  lower 
order  of  women  at  Avignon  ;  their  heads  were  dressed  with  cambric, 
or  muslin — a  cap  with  a  plain  border  round  the  face,  which  projected 
very  forward  all  round,  and  a  kind  of  cambric  handkerchief,  which 
tied  under  the  chin,  and  covered  the  whole  head  in  a  very  picturesque 
manner.  Their  faces  are  much  browner  than  at  Paris,  which  makes 
their  linen  look  very  white,  and  gives  the  whole  head  a  very  beautiful 
effect.  As  white  is  said  to  repel  the  rays  of  the  sun  more  than  any 
other  colour,  this  may  be  their  reason  for  wearing  so  much  linen  round 
their  heads  in  so  hot  a  climate ;  as  Avignon  is  supposed  to  be  hotter 
in  summer  than  any  other  part  of  France.  They  wear  little  jackets  of 
different  colours,  but  principally  black,  without  stays ;  and  a  handker- 
chief round  the  neck,  of  coloured  silk,  or  muslin,  that  covers  most  of 
it,  and  meets  between  the  breasts.  Their  petticoats  are  of  a  different 
colour  from  that  of  their  jackets,  and  reach  a  little  below  their  knees ; 
which  gives  them  a  very  light  and  airy  appearance,  and  exposes  limbs 
round  and  cleanly  formed.  This  may  be  supposed  to  be  very  delight- 
ful to  the  eye  of  a  painter,  who  had  always  been  accustomed  to  see 
women  dressed  in  stays,  with  petticoats  almost  covering  the  heels.' 
This  long  quotation  is  of  particular  interest,  as  it  became  Romney 's 
constant  endeavour  to  induce  his  sitters  to  discard  stays  and  as  many 
as  possible  of  the  exaggerations  insisted  upon  by  fashion  in  their 

63 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


costumes,  and  to  dress  themselves  for  their  portraits  in  the  simpler 
draperies  of  so-called  classical  days. 

From  Avignon,  the  two  painters  journeyed  by  cabriolet  through 
Aix  to  Marseilles.  At  the  latter  place  Romney  writes  that  '  the 
women  are  more  beautiful  than  at  Paris,  and  dress  very  gay,  with  less 
paint.'  On  leaving  on  the  26th  of  April,  he  was  enraptured  with  the 
scenery  of  the  valleys  through  which  they  passed,  and  the  mountains 
which  surrounded  them.  It  '  was  more  like  that  described  in 
romance,  than  any  I  had  ever  seen  before  :  it  seemed  to  be  a  place 
peculiarly  well  suited  for  the  study  of  landscape  painting.'  Thus  they 
travelled  by  Frejus  and  Antibes  to  Nice.  '  The  day  we  arrived  at 
Nice,  being  Sunday  and  the  2nd  of  May,  we  saw  maypoles  erected  in 
several  streets,  and  in  the  evening,  rings  of  women,  about  fifteen  or 
twenty  in  each,  hand  in  hand,  dancing  round  them,  like  The  Hours  of 
Guido,  and  singing  beautiful  airs.  Their  movements  were  sometimes 
slow,  and  increased  gradually  till  they  became  very  quick,  then  slow 
again ;  they  were  perfectly  in  time  with  one  another,  and  moved  with 
the  greatest  vivacity  and  spirit.  The  air  of  antiquity  it  carried  along 
with  it  had  the  most  enchanting  effect.  I  thought  myself  removed 
two  thousand  years  back,  and  a  spectator  of  scenes  in  Arcadia.  About 
four  o'clock  the  next  morning,  I  was  awakened  by  a  boy  in  the  street, 
singing  with  amazing  spirit  and  simplicity,  some  of  the  sweetest  airs  I 
had  ever  heard.' 

The  next  day  they  engaged  a  French  'tartane'  to  take  them  to 
Leghorn,  for  four  louis  d'or  and  a  half,  and  sailed  on  the  following 
Thursday,  May  6th.  After  spending  two  days  at  sea,  they  were 
driven  back  to  port  by  adverse  winds.  Twice  again  they  made  the 
attempt,  and  twice  were  obliged  to  return.  While  waiting  for  more 
favourable  weather  they  became  acquainted  with  a  Mr.  Aubert,  a 
Genoese  merchant  of  English  family,  who  took  them  on  various 
expeditions  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Nice,  and  also  to  visit  an  English 
resident,  Mr.  Lyon.  '  Being  holy-day,  the  young  men  and  women  of 
the  neighbouring  peasants  were  assembled  in  Mr.  Lyon's  yard  with  a 
fiddler,  and  dancing  minuets  and  jigs  at  the  time  we  entered ;  which 
gave  us  no  small  delight.  A  little  time  after,  they  formed  a  ring 
round  a  maypole,  and  danced  and  sung  altogether,  hand  in  hand,  with 
that  glee,  which  arises  from  innocence,  simplicity,  and  liveliness.  The 
airs  were  light,  sprightly,  and  elegant.  The  women  were  dressed  in 
muslin  and  cotton,  mostly  white ;  some  had  changeable  silk  bodies 
and  sleeves,  but  all  without  stays ;  which  gave  a  lightness  and  flexi- 
64 


VISIT  TO  GENOA 


bility  to  their  bodies  and  limbs,  and  a  variety  and  grace  to  their 
action,  which  were  exceedingly  pleasing.'  And  again,  '  The  Nissard 
women  are  very  ordinary  looking,  they  are  remarkably  brown  and 
rather  masculine ;  notwithstanding,  they  are  exceedingly  pleasing  in 
the  dances.' 

They  were  detained  in  Nice  three  weeks  and  a  day,  leaving  on  the 
25th  of  May  for  Genoa  in  a  felucca  with  Mr.  Aubert.  '  To  our  morti- 
fication, however,'  writes  Romney,  '  the  tartane  sailed  the  day  before  us, 
and  got  clear  off  with  a  fair  wind.'  After  a  run  of  an  hour  and  a  half 
they  put  in  at  Mentone,  where  Mr.  Aubert  took  them  to  call  upon  a 
Mr.  Albans,  '  a  great  merchant  and  polite  gentleman,'  who  induced 
them  to  stay  with  him  the  whole  of  the  next  day  ;  and  then,  on  the 
27th,  they  started  early  in  the  morning  upon  the  145  miles  run  to 
Genoa,  which  they  reached  at  midnight. 

At  Genoa  they  visited  the  principal  palaces,  and  Romney  jotted 
down  in  his  sketch-book  short  descriptions  of  their  decorations  and 
pictures,  which  are  of  interest  as  showing  the  painters  whose  work 
made  the  strongest  appeal  to  him.  Of  the  Balbi  Palace  he  writes 
that  'it  contains  a  great  number  of  different  masters,  but  none  very 
capital.  There  are  some  by  Vandyke,  very  good,  but  slight ;  and 
more  in  the  Flemish  style  than  those  we  have  in  England.  There  are 
the  beginnings  of  two  heads  painted  in  oil  upon  paper  pasted  on 
canvass,  which  have  great  thinness  and  freshness.  There  is  a  small 
Parmigiano  with  some  parts  very  good.  A  Buonaroti,  seme  of  the 
heads  very  fine ;  the  subject,  Christ  praying  in  the  garden.' 

In  the  Durazzo  Palace  'is  a  very  capital  picture  by  Paul  Veronese, 
of  Mary  Magdalene  washing  the  feet  of  Christ.  It  is  in  excellent  pre- 
servation, and  has  the  freshness  of  one  painted  but  a  year.  The  sur- 
face is  dry  without  any  gloss,  like  a  Distemper  painting ;  so  that, 
though  it  hangs  facing  the  light,  it  may  be  seen  to  great  advantage. 
There  is  a  fluency  in  the  touch  that  will  convince  every  artist  who 
examines  it,  that  it  was  not  painted  with  oil,  but  with  some  very  thin 
limpid  vehicle ;  nor  in  distemper,  I  believe,  as  the  colours  are  better 
united  in  some  parts  of  the  picture  than  that  will  admit  of.  There  is 
a  very  rugged  kind  of  touch  in  the  hair  and  other  parts,  as  if  it  had 
been  painted  with  simple  water.  There  are  some  parts  where  it  is 
broken  a  little,  and  looks  dry  and  crumbly.' 

In  a  palace,  the  name  of  which  he  had  forgotten — evidently  the 
Palazzo  Rosso  of  the  Brignole-Sala  family — he  notes  several  good 
pictures;   'one  in  particular,  The  Assumption   of  the  Virgin,  by 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 

Corregio,  or  Parmigiano.  It  is  a  very  small  picture,  but  a  most 
beautiful  composition.  The  figure  of  the  virgin  is  suspended  in  the 
clouds  in  a  very  becoming  posture,  with  her  arms  extended ;  and  look- 
ing up,  with  a  very  sweet  countenance,  but  not  very  beautiful.  She  is 
surrounded  by  a  group  of  angels  and  children,  hand  in  hand ;  some  of 
the  angels  are  in  the  most  graceful  actions  imaginable,  and  the  forms 
of  their  limbs  and  heads  are  perfectly  angelic ;  the  beauty  of  the 
features,  the  angelic  sweetness  of  the  countenances,  and  the  elegant 
disposition  of  the  hair,  make  them  divine  beyond  conception  or  imita- 
tion. There  are  two  whole  lengths  by  Vandyke,  a  gentleman  and 
lady ;  the  gentleman  is  on  horseback  in  a  very  spirited  action  ;  the 
lady's  picture  is  very  slight,  but  charmingly  coloured ;  it  has  a  trans- 
parency throughout,  and  a  glow  in  the  face,  that  I  have  never  seen 
before  in  Vandyke  ;  the  attitude  is  very  simple,  but  very  graceful  and 
genteel.  There  are  two  beginnings  of  them  in  oil  colour,  upon  paper 
pasted  on  canvass  ;  they  are  very  thin  and  transparent,  and  seem  to  be 
painted  with  nothing  but  vermilion,  brown  ochre,  white,  and  black. 
There  are  some  other  pictures  by  Vandyke,  and  a  very  good  one  by 
Rubens,  a  Bacchanalian  piece.' 

In  another  unnamed  palace,  '  there  is  a  very  fine  head  by  Raphael, 
a  Judith  with  the  head  of  Holofernes.  The  face  is  beautiful  and 
grand ;  there  is  great  spirit  and  strength  in  the  eye,  and  the  mouth  is 
grave,  but  very  sweet.  It  is  a  very  good  tone  of  colour,  is  highly 
finished,  and  in  excellent  preservation.'  'In  the  church  of  the 
Jesuits  (St.  Ambrogio),  which  is  near  the  Doge's  palace,  there  is  a 
very  fine  picture  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin,  by  Guido,  and 
two  pretty  good  ones  by  Rubens  on  the  same  subject.' 

He  concludes,  as  usual,  with  a  description  of  the  women  and 
their  dress.  '  The  Genoese  women  are  in  general  elegant  in  their 
figure,  have  great  ease  in  their  action,  and  walk  extremely  well. 
They  are  of  a  good  size,  are  fair,  but  very  pale,  which  is  occasioned 
by  the  dress  they  wear.  It  is  a  loose  robe  of  calico  or  thick  muslin, 
which  goes  over  their  heads  like  a  veil,  and  over  their  shoulders  and 
arms  like  a  capuchin.  They  let  it  fall  over  the  forehead  as  low  as  the 
eyebrows,  and  twist  it  under  the  chin ;  they  generally  have  one  hand 
up  almost  to  the  chin,  holding  the  veil  with  their  fingers  beautifully 
disposed  among  the  folds,  and  the  other  across  the  breast.  They  are 
short-waisted,  and  have  very  long  trains,  which  produce  the  most 
elegant  flowing  lines  imaginable ;  so  that  with  the  beautiful  folds  of 
the  veil  or  cloak,  they  are,  when  they  move,  the  finest  figures  that 
66 


PLATE  JCIII 


MRS.  THOMAS  RAIKES 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  MR.  CHARLES  J.  WERTHEIMER 

Pages  135,  3/9 


PLA  I  E  XIV 


ARRIVAL   I N  ROME 


can  be  conceived.  When  the  veil  is  off,  you  see  the  most  picturesque 
and  elegant  hair;  it  is  braided  up  the  back  of  the  head  and  twisted 
round  several  times  and  beautifully  varied ;  it  is  pinned  with  a  long 
silver  pin ;  where  it  is  not  braided,  it  is  flat  to  the  head  with  some 
loose  hair  round  the  face.' 

Unfortunately  Romney  abandoned  his  letter-diary  on  leaving 
Genoa,  so  that  we  have  no  personal  record  of  his  doings  while  in 
residence  in  Rome.  The  two  travellers  journeyed  from  Genoa  to 
Leghorn  by  boat,  encountering  a  severe  storm  by  the  way,  during 
which  the  Italian  sailors,  in  the  manner  of  their  country,  went  down 
on  their  knees  instead  of  looking  after  the  sails.  According  to 
Humphry's  account,  Romney  was  greatly  alarmed,  though  he  declared 
that  his  consternation  did  not  arise  from  personal  fear,  but  from 
'  tender  concern  at  the  prospect  of  being  suddenly  separated  for  ever 
from  his  friends  and  relations.'  By  this  time  they  had  had  quite 
enough  of  seafaring,  and  finished  the  journey  by  land,  passing  through 
Pisa  to  Florence,  where  they  stayed  but  a  few  days,  and  then  by 
Siena  and  Viterbo  to  Rome,  which  they  reached  on  the  18th  of 
June. 

Romney  wasted  no  moment  after  reaching  the  goal  of  his  am- 
bitions, but  immediately  began  to  work  with  his  usual  impetuosity. 
In  order  that  he  might  make  the  most  of  his  limited  opportunities,  he 
gave  up  almost  all  society,  seeing  but  little  of  Humphry,  and  making 
few  friends  among  the  numerous  artists  then  settled  in  Rome;  and 
devoted  himself  entirely  to  systematic  and  incessant  study. 

John  Romney  is  indignant  with  Hayley  for  what  he  considers 
his  '  uncandid '  statements  as  to  the  painter's  motives  for  thus  with- 
drawing himself  from  the  society  of  his  brother  painters.  Hayley, 
however,  though  perhaps  a  little  apt  to  exaggerate,  seems  to  have 
been  not  very  far  from  the  truth.  '  Such  was  the  cautious  reserve,'  he 
writes,  'which  his  singular  mental  infirmity,  a  perpetual  dread  of 
enemies,  inspired,  that  he  avoided  all  farther  intercourse  with  his 
fellow-traveller,  and  with  all  the  other  artists  of  his  country,  who  were 
then  studying  at  Rome.'  Romney,  he  adds,  was  'very  singularly 
addicted  to  that  honorable,  yet  perilous,  kind  of  intemperance,  the 
intemperance  of  study  !  and  I  impute  those  deplorable  infirmities,  that 
over-clouded  the  evening  of  his  day,  to  his  great  want  of  that  self- 
command,  which  should  have  led  him  in  regulating  his  own  studies 

67 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


(both  of  early  and  of  maturer  life)  to  establish  the  proper  salutary 
intervals  of  labour  and  rest.  His  powerful,  and  imperious,  fancy  pre- 
cluded him  from  the  advantages  of  such  useful  discretion.' 

The  artist's  son  not  unnaturally  regarded  this  statement  as  a 
grossly  exaggerated  picture  of  his  father's  conduct  and  habits. 
According  to  him,  Romney  by  no  means  gave  up  all  society,  but 
became  friendly  with  such  men  as  Wright  of  Derby,  Thomas 
Harrison,  the  architect,  and  Nathaniel  Marchant,  the  sculptor  in 
gems,  afterwards  a  member  of  the  Royal  Academy.  '  It  is  very 
probable,'  he  writes,  '  that  he  might  have  disliked  the  intrusion  of 
pryers,  and  the  company  of  idlers ;  but  I  never  at  any  time  noticed 
that  peculiar  dread  of  enemies  which  Mr.  Hayley  imputes  to  him. 
He  had  penetration  enough  to  distinguish  who  were  friendly  to  him, 
and  who  were  not,  and  of  course  was  shy  towards  the  latter ;  this  was 
natural.  I  am  disposed  also  to  admit,  though  I  do  not  know  that  it 
was  the  fact,  that  he  might  have  felt  some  dread  of  the  friends  of  Sir 
Joshua  when  they  came  about  him;  knowing  well,  that  they  were  so 
attached  to  his  rival  from  personal  motives,  that  he  had  little  chance 
of  candour  from  them.'  He  explains  that  the  coolness  between 
Humphry  and  his  father  was  of  short  duration,  and  sets  down  the 
former  as  '  undoubtedly  a  gossip  and  idler.' 

No  doubt  Romney  also  had  some  acquaintance  with  Fuseli,  who 
was  then  at  work  in  Rome,  though  the  two  men  were  not  particularly 
sympathetic.  Several  other  English  artists  also  formed  part  of  the 
foreign  colony.  Thomas  Banks,  the  sculptor,  in  a  letter  to  J.  T. 
Smith's  father,  written  in  the  summer  of  1773,  mentions  some  of 
them.  '  Since  I  have  been  in  Rome  there  has  arrived  here  the  above- 
mentioned  Mr.  Barron,  Mr.  Marchant,  and  Mr.  Townley;  Mr. 
Whalley,  Mr.  Darner,  and  Mr.  Keene,  and  lastly,  Messrs.  Humphry 
and  Romney ;  I  had  forgot  one  Mr.  Foy  though — a  Sculptor,  a  very 
ingenious,  worthy  young  man.  .  .  .  Among  the  students  of  painting, 
Fuseli  cuts  the  greatest  figure;  last  season  he  had  pictures  bespoke 
to  the  amount  of  1300/.,  good  encouragement  for  a  student,  yet 
nothing  more  than,  from  his  great  abilities,  he  is  justly  entitled 
to.  Little  Wickstead  has  had  most  of  the  portraits  to  paint  last 
season  .  .  .  but  Barron  arriving  here  the  beginning  of  the  season, 
and  having  great  merit  in  the  portrait  way,  etc.,  got  so  many  to 
paint,  as  proved  no  small  mortification  to  the  aforesaid  gentleman, 
as  well  as  his  helpers.'  Philip  Wickstead  was  a  pupil  of  Zoffany's, 
and  painted  small  whole-lengths  with  a  certain  taste,  while  Hugh 
68 


WORK  FROM   MODELS  IN  ROME 


Barron,  in  addition  to  his  merits  as  a  portrait  painter,  was  a  good 
musician. 

Little  is  known  of  Romney 's  life  in  Rome,  which  lasted  for  a  year 
and  seven  months,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  whole  of  the  time 
was  given  up  to  serious  study.  Many  of  his  days  were  spent  in 
making  copies  from  the  old  masters,  though  he  also  produced  some 
original  work  from  models.  John  Romney  possessed  three  heads 
taken  from  picturesque  street  types.  One  was  of  a  dwarf,  nicknamed 
Baiocco,  from  his  habit  of  begging  for  pence,  a  savage-looking  man 
with  black  hair  and  beard.  Another  is  said  to  have  been  a  profes- 
sional assassin,  handsome  and  fierce,  with  black  curling  hair  and 
beard,  whom  Romney  thought  a  good  model  for  'Brutus.'  The  third 
was  a  picturesque  head  of  an  old  Jew.  '  It  is  exquisitely  painted,' 
writes  his  son,  '  and  with  much  delicacy  of  touch  ;  the  aspect  is  mild, 
but  penetrating  and  dignified.  The  head  is  bald,  and  the  locks  and 
beard  grey.  He  painted  another  head  from  this  model  for  the  char- 
acter of  Moses,  which  was  sold  in  an  unfinished  state  at  the  auction  of 
his  pictures.    The  head  which  I  have  is  much  superior.' 

Romney  also  availed  himself  of  the  opportunities  more  easily  pro- 
cured in  Rome  than  in  London  of  studying  from  the  nude.  His  son's 
account  of  this  is  so  unwittingly  entertaining  that  it  must  not  be 
omitted.  '  There  was  at  that  time  in  Rome  a  young  female  of  fine 
form,  who  lent  herself  to  the  artists  for  hire  as  a  naked  model,  and  by 
these  means  supported  herself  and  her  mother.  Notwithstanding  this 
species  of  prostitution,  it  does  not  appear  that  her  mind  was  actually 
corrupt.  Her  mother  always  attended  her,  so  that  she  was  never  left 
alone ;  and  as  much  delicacy  and  decorum  were  observed  as  the  nature 
of  the  business  would  admit  of.  Had  the  slightest  liberty  been 
attempted,  it  would  have  been  repelled  with  indignation  ;  so,  at  least, 
it  was  generally  understood.  Mr.  Romney  availed  himself  of  so 
favourable  an  opportunity  for  studying  the  nude,  and  made  many 
sketches  from  her ;  he  thus  acquired  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
female  form  in  all  its  diversities  of  attitude.  I  believe  he  painted  only 
one  picture  from  her :  it  represents  a  naked  female  in  the  character  of 
a  Wood-Nymph  reposing  at  full  length  upon  the  ground,  with  her 
back  turned  towards  the  spectator.  The  fore  part  of  her  body  is  raised 
and  resting  upon  her  right  arm  and  elbow,  and  she  is  contemplating 
the  reflection  of  her  beautiful  face  in  a  brook.  She  lies  upon  drapery 
of  white  linen  and  a  pink  robe,  which  gives  a  rich  warmth  and  harmony 

69 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


of  colouring  to  the  whole.  The  back  ground  is  a  wild  forest.  This 
picture  came  into  the  possession  of  Mr.  Keate,  the  surgeon,  for  an  in- 
adequate price.  Mr.  Romney  began  a  half-length  portrait  of  Mrs. 
Keate,  and  received  payment  for  it,  forty  guineas ;  but  the  portrait, 
from  some  cause  or  other,  was  never  finished,  and  Mr.  Keate  requested 
this  picture  in  its  stead.  The  Wood  Nymph  was,  in  my  estimation, 
cheap  at  two  hundred  guineas  ;  but  it  was  not  the  fashion  in  those 
days  to  buy  fancy-pictures.' 

There  was  another  picture  painted  in  Rome  which  exercised  the 
prim  and  precise  mind  of  John  Romney  even  more  than  those  studies 
from  the  nude  which  he  regarded  with  such  evident  displeasure,  and 
considered  were  to  be  tolerated  only  as  a  means  to  the  still  greater 
perfection  of  his  father's  art.  The  picture  in  question,  '  Providence 
brooding  over  Chaos,'  as  he  calls  it,  he  is  obliged  to  confess  he  looked 
upon  'rather  as  an  object  of  censure  than  of  praise.'  As  a  clergyman 
he  felt  bound  to  protest.  '  It  is  very  natural,  however,  to  be  misled 
by  the  influence  of  great  examples ;  both  Michael  Angelo  and  Raffaelle 
have  represented  the  Almighty  with  the  figure  and  character  of  human 
nature  ;  a  practice  too  much  countenanced  by  the  corruptions  and 
idolatry  of  the  Roman  catholic  religion :  for  surely  it  is  a  profanation 
of  the  grossest  character  to  exhibit  by  a  degrading  representation,  the 
invisible  Creator  of  all  things,  whose  very  name  should  not  be  uttered 
without  feelings  of  veneration  and  awe.'  With  filial  affection,  how- 
ever, he  proceeds  to  hunt  for  texts  that  '  would  seem  to  favour  the 
idea  that  the  Almighty  had  a  circumscribed  form.'  In  this  he  is  only 
in  part  successful,  and  finishes  by  finding  a  passage  '  conclusive  as  to 
the  impropriety,  (not  to  say  impiety,)  of  representing  the  Almighty 
under  any  form  whatever,  even  though  not  intended  for  the  purpose 
of  idolatry.' 

This  impious  picture  '  represented  a  venerable  old  man  borne  upon 
the  clouds.  He  fronted  the  spectator,  and  had  his  arms  outspread ; 
his  hair  was  parted  on  his  forehead,  and  his  beard  flowing.  There 
was  a  mild  expression  in  his  countenance,  and  he  seemed  rapt  in  the 
performance  of  some  great  operation.  The  lower  part  of  the  picture 
exhibited  a  chaotic  mass  of  obscurity  and  darkness.  This  picture 
remained  in  his  gallery  in  Cavendish  square  for  some  years.  At  the 
time  of  Lord  George  Gordon's  riots  in  1780,  it  excited  great  alarm  in 
the  mind  of  Mr.  Romney,  lest  it  should  attract  the  notice  of  the 
rioters  and  be  regarded  as  an  object  of  Roman  catholic  idolatry,  and 
thus  lead  to  the  destruction  of  his  house.  It  was  therefore  immedi- 
70 


HIS  COPIES   OF  OLD  MASTERS 


ately  removed  to  a  back  apartment.  When  I  made  out  the  catalogue 
for  the  sale  of  his  pictures,  I  called  it  Jupiter  Pluvius;  borrowing  the 
idea  from  a  representation  of  that  Pagan  divinity  on  the  column  of 
Marcus  Aurelius,  to  which  the  figure  in  Mr.  Romney 's  picture  bore 
some  resemblance.' 

Romney  spent  much  of  his  time  in  the  close  study  of  the  works  of 
Raphael  and  Michael  Angelo  in  the  Vatican,  and  copied  in  his  sketch- 
books all  the  Sibyls  and  Prophets  in  the  Sistine  Chapel.  He  had 
brought  with  him  a  letter  of  recommendation  from  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester  to  the  Pope,  Clement  xiv.,  and  by  this  means  obtained 
permission  to  erect  scaffolding  in  the  Vatican  for  the  better  making  of 
studies  after  Raphael.  Another  noble  patron  who  had  befriended  him 
and  had  urged  him  to  visit  Italy  was  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  in  whose 
gallery  of  casts  in  Privy  Gardens  Romney  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
working.  John  Romney  possessed  a  number  of  studies  in  oil,  after 
Raphael,  made  in  this  way,  including  the  head  of  Heliodorus,  and 
two  other  heads  from  the  same  fresco ;  the  head  and  part  of  the  body 
of  the  woman  carrying  the  buckets  of  water  in  the  '  Incendio  del 
Borgo,'  and  also  a  pencil  drawing  of  the  whole  figure  ;  and  from  the 
same  picture  a  small  copy  in  oil  and  umber  of  the  man  bearing  his 
infirm  and  aged  father  upon  his  shoulders  ;  the  head  of  Sappho  from 
the  '  Mount  Parnassus ' ;  and  another  of  the  group  of  figures  in  '  The 
School  of  Athens  '  which  represents  Archimedes  explaining  a  diagram 
to  his  youthful  pupils ;  the  latter  being  purchased  at  the  Romney  sale 
by  Dr.  Henry  Ainslie. 

But  the  most  important  work  upon  which  he  was  engaged  while 
in  Rome  was  a  copy  of  the  lower  half  of  Raphael's  'Transfiguration,' 
of  the  same  size  as  the  original.  '  It  was  painted  in  oil  and  umber 
upon  single  sheets  of  paper,  which  he  afterwards  united  upon  one 
large  canvass.  The  whole  formed  a  most  accurate  and  spirited  copy 
of  that  last  work,  and  masterpiece  of  RafFaelle ;  the  finest  picture, 
perhaps,  in  the  world ;  in  which  all  the  excellencies  of  that  great  master 
were  combined,  and  which  alone  was  a  sufficient  school  to  form  a 
young  painter.  .  .  .  To  accomplish  this  work  he  had  a  scaffold  erected 
in  the  church  di  San  Pietro  in  Montorio,  where  this  picture  was  the 
altar-piece.'1  The  Duke  of  Richmond  offered  him  one  hundred 
guineas  for  it  when  he  returned  to  England,  but  he  refused,  being- 
anxious  to  retain  it  for  the  purposes  of  reference  and  study,  and  also 


John  Romney,  p.  102. 


71 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


regarding  the  price  as  inadequate.  At  the  sale  of  his  pictures  after 
his  death  it  was  knocked  down  for  six  guineas. 

Romney,  though  working  in  Rome  with  the  utmost  ardour  on 
such  important  studies  as  this  large  copy,  found  time  to  make  a  certain 
number  of  sketching  expeditions  about  the  city  and  its  environs,  as  his 
sketch-books  show.  In  this  way  he  made  drawings  of  St.  Peter's,  the 
Colosseum,  and  other  famous  buildings,  and  of  the  Sibyl's  Temple, 
Neptune's  Grotto,  and  the  Cascatelli  at  Tivoli.  He  was  too  occupied 
with  his  painting  to  have  many  adventures,  but  one  small  one  he  did 
encounter,  which  might  have  been  serious  in  its  consequences.  He 
was  lodging  at  the  Jesuits'  College  at  the  time  when  the  Pope  was 
taking  drastic  measures  to  suppress  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Romney, 
wrapped  up  in  his  art,  and  quite  ignorant  of  the  Italian  language,  had 
no  knowledge  of  what  was  on  foot,  and  on  the  day  on  which  the 
building  was  suddenly  surrounded  by  a  military  guard,  and  all  egress 
prohibited,  he  was  abruptly  stopped  by  a  sentry  as  he  was  going  out. 
Not  understanding,  and  absorbed  in  his  own  thoughts,  he  pushed  on, 
whereupon  the  guard  levelled  his  musket.  This  brought  him  rapidly 
to  earth,  and  he  gasped  the  word  Jnglese  with  promptitude,  thereby 
possibly  saving  his  life. 

Before  leaving  Rome  he  received  a  long  letter  from  Richard 
Cumberland,  dated  August  14th,  1774,  and  addressed  from  Warwick 
Castle.  It  gave  him  the  art  gossip  of  the  day,  and  described  some  of 
the  pictures  in  the  annual  exhibition.  '  Barry  fell  into  the  false  sub- 
lime and  became  ridiculous ;  W est  was  in  the  wane,  and  our  friend 
Sir  Joshua,  though  very  voluminous,  had  nothing  supremely  capital, 
coarse  and  flaring  in  his  style  and  colours,  he  seems  tired  with  nature 
and  is  bringing  in  vagaries  to  hide  his  want  of  improvement.'  He 
then  thanked  Romney  somewhat  floridly  for  a  present  of  the  '  Head  of 
Sappho,'  which  he  promised  to  keep  '  with  those  performances  of  yours 
which  are  for  ever  in  my  eye,  and  increase  in  value  every  day.  I  have 
got  back  my  wife's  picture  with  the  boy  out  of  Ireland,  and  prize  it 
inestimably.'  In  conclusion,  he  asked  him  to  undertake  as  a  commis- 
sion for  Lord  Warwick  the  purchase  of  a  picture  of  some  historical 
subject,  about  63  in.  x  43  in.  in  size,  to  fill  a  particular  place  in  the 
Castle,  for  a  sum  not  exceeding  one  hundred  pounds ;  also  to  buy  a 
few  portraits  for  a  collection  his  lordship  was  making :  '  they  must  be 
heads  only  (which  we  call  three-quarters)  of  spirit  and  effect ;  Titian 
or  Guido,  if  they  can  be  met  with  in  compass  of  moderation  ;  marked 
72 


IN  FLORENCE  AND  BOLOGNA 


characters,  or  dignified  persons ;  and  your  kind  compliance  with  this 
request  will  gratify  him  most  highly.'  Lord  Warwick  was  also 
anxious  to  have  the  first  choice  of  purchase  of  any  copies  Romney 
might  make  and  bring  home  with  him. 

He  left  Rome  on  January  10th,  1775,  after  a  residence  of  nearly  a 
year  and  seven  months,  and  journeyed  towards  home  in  a  leisurely 
fashion,  remaining  three  weeks  in  Florence,  and  a  fortnight  in  Bologna. 
At  the  latter  place  he  was  offered  the  Presidentship  of  the  Academy 
of  Painting,  which  honour  he  felt  compelled  to  decline.  He  reached 
Venice  by  way  of  Ferrara  on  the  25th  of  February. 

We  learn  from  the  draft  of  a  letter,  written  in  one  of  his  sketch- 
books shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Venice,  and  addressed  to  Charles 
Greville,  that  it  had  been  his  original  intention  to  leave  Rome  in  the 
previous  October,  but  that  he  feared  the  ill  effect  of  travelling  in  the 
winter,  and  also  was  a  little  uncertain  as  to  whether  he  could  get  per- 
mission to  copy  certain  pictures  in  Florence,  so  that  he  resolved  to 
stay  where  he  was  until  the  worst  weather  was  over.  It  was  upon 
making  this  decision  that  he  began  his  large  copy  of  Raphael's  '  Trans- 
figuration.' '  I  think  I  was  particularly  happy  in  my  determination,' 
he  writes,  '  as  it  is  a  work  where  all  the  excellencies  of  that  master  are 
united :  there  is  a  perfection  in  the  finishing  hardly  to  be  met  with,  and 
it  is  designed  with  more  gusto  than  any  other  of  his  oil  paintings.' 
Greville  had  sent  him  letters  of  introduction  to  Lord  Cowper  and  Sir 
Horace  Mann  in  Florence ;  but,  with  every  desire  to  serve  him,  they 
were  unable  to  procure  for  him  the  necessary  permission  to  take  down 
any  of  the  pictures  in  the  galleries  for  the  purpose  of  making  copies 
or  studies.  He  did  not  linger,  therefore,  for  any  time  in  that  city, 
though  he  was  by  no  means  idle  while  there.  '  I  met  with  great 
entertainment  from  the  old  masters,'  he  says,  'in  particular,  Cimabue 
and  Masaccio ;  I  admired  the  great  simplicity  and  purity  of  the 
former,  and  the  strength  of  character  and  expression  of  the  latter.  I 
was  surprised  to  find  several  of  their  ideas  familiar  to  me,  till  I  recol- 
lected having  seen  the  same  thoughts  in  M.  Angelo  and  Raphael,  only 
managed  with  more  science.' 

He  travelled  from  Florence  to  Venice  in  company  with  Mr.  Udney, 
the  English  consul  in  the  latter  place.  In  Bologna  he  was  much  taken 
with  the  works  of  the  Carracci.    4 1  think  there  is  a  style  of  painting  in 

73 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


them  very  much  to  be  admired,  particularly  in  Lodovico ;  his  thoughts 
are  more  elevated  than  those  of  any  other  of  that  school,  (though 
frequently  borrowed  from  Titian  or  Correggio)  ;  but  he  is  less  correct 
than  his  scholars ;  his  forms  are  large  and  few,  the  tone  of  his  colouring 
is  grave  and  low ;  and  there  is  a  gloom  in  the  effect  of  his  pictures 
well  adapted  to  the  pathetic  and  terrible.  I  admire  the  St.  Agnes  of 
Dominichino,  and  the  Peter  and  Paul  of  Guido ;  but  neither  so  much 
as  the  St.  Cecilia  of  Raphael,  and  the  St.  Margaret  of  Parmigiano.' 
The  rest  of  the  letter  is  taken  up  with  an  account  of  his  fruitless 
attempts  to  find  pictures  suitable  for  purchase  for  the  Earl  of 
AV arwick ;  and  he  winds  up  by  saying — '  I  have  been  four  days  in 
Venice,  and  am  at  present  almost  lost  to  every  thing  in  this  world 
but  Titian.' 

A  second  letter  of  about  the  same  date  is  addressed  to  a  friend 
named  Carter,  a  fellow  student  left  behind  in  Rome.  Romney  grows 
poetic  in  his  account  of  his  last  view  of  that  city  as  seen  from  the 
summit  of  Mount  Viterbo.  '  I  looked  with  an  eager  eye  to  discover 
that  divine  place.  It  was  enveloped  in  a  bright  vapour,  as  if  the  rays 
of  Apollo  shone  there  with  greater  lustre  than  at  any  other  spot  upon 
this  terrestrial  globe.  My  mind  visited  every  place,  and  thought  of 
every  thing  that  had  given  it  pleasure ;  and  I  continued  some  time  in 
that  state,  with  a  thousand  tender  sensations  playing  about  my  heart,  till 
I  was  almost  lost  in  sorrow — think,  O  think,  my  dear  Carter,  where 
you  are,  and  do  not  let  the  sweets  of  that  divine  place  escape  from 
you ;  do  not  leave  a  stone  unturned  that  is  classical ;  do  not  leave  a 
form  unsought  out  that  is  beautiful ;  nor  even  a  line  of  the  great 
Michael  Angelo.'  The  remainder  of  the  letter  follows  on  the  same 
lines  as  the  one  to  Greville.  In  Florence,  he  says,  '  the  Grand  Duke 
will  not  suffer  the  Venus  to  be  taken  down,  nor  any  picture  in  the  Pitti 
Palace :  alleging,  that  if  he  suffer  any  one  he  cannot  refuse  others, 
which  he  had  done  lately  to  two  or  three  who  had  applied  through 
very  great  interest.  In  order  to  recompence  myself,  I  got  a  ladder 
and  examined  them  very  near  several  times,  and  found  more  informa- 
tion than  I  expected.  I  was  very  much  entertained,  and  I  believe 
employed  my  time  to  greater  advantage,  in  making  sketches  from  the 
works  of  Cimabue,  Masaccio,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  and  Michael  Angelo. 
...  I  was  very  well  pleased  with  the  school  of  Caracci.  I  think  their 
style  of  painting  grand,  and  that  gravity  of  colour,  and  gloomy  effect 
certainly  well  adapted  to  subjects  of  terror  and  pathos.' 
74 


PL  A  TE  XV 


PLATE  XVI 


MRS.  CLEMENTS 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  COLONEL  CLEMENTS 


WORK   IN  VENICE 


In  a  third  letter,  to  Ozias  Humphry,  he  describes  at  greater  length 
the  effect  produced  upon  him  by  the  Bolognese  school,  and  also  gives 
some  account  of  what  he  had  been  doing  in  Venice.  On  reaching 
Bologna — •'  my  first  business,  as  you  may  suppose,  was  to  look  for  the 
pictures  which  Sir  Joshua  has  mentioned  in  his  Discourses.  I  found 
them  nearly  such  as  he  has  described  them.  The  St.  Francis  among 
his  friars,  and  many  others  by  Lodovico  Caracci  are  so  very  dark,  far 
from  the  eye,  and  in  such  bad  lights,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  I  could 
make  out  many  of  the  figures  ;  some  of  them  were  also  much  decayed  ; 
however  I  think  there  is  much  to  be  admired.  There  is  a  grandeur  of 
character  in  the  heads  of  his  old  men,  and  a  dignity  in  the  style  of  his 
figures  in  general,  equal  to  most  masters ;  and  I  think,  if  he  could  be 
come  at  and  seen  in  good  lights,  some  time  might  be  spent  to  advan- 
tage in  making  studies.  I  also  saw  some  clever  things  of  Dominichino 
and  Guercino,  which  raised  my  opinion  of  them.  I  think  the  great 
strength,  breadth,  and  bold  manner  of  working,  which  are  peculiar  to 
that  school,  are  exceedingly  well  adapted  to  some  kinds  of  historical 
painting.  I  need  not  say  anything  of  the  St.  Cecilia  of  Raphael. 
There  is  a  St.  Margaret  by  Parmigiano,  which  I  think  a  very 
extraordinary  picture.' 

'  I  have  been  three  weeks  at  Venice,  and  have  seen  most  of  the 
works  of  Titian,  Tintoret,  and  Paul  Veronese.  I  am  sorry  to  find 
many  of  the  first  very  dark,  and  much  damaged ;  some  of  them  have 
been  extraordinary  productions ;  but  as  there  are  many  of  them  and 
parts  of  most  in  tolerable  condition,  there  is  enough  to  study  from, 
perhaps  not  of  the  sort  you  and  I  might  wish  for — I  mean  women  and 
children. — The  Death  of  the  Friar,  and  the  St.  Laurence  have  been 
amazingly  fine  pictures  in  invention,  composition,  character,  expression, 
and  colour.  I  have  been  hard  at  work  some  time  past  in  making 
studies  from  a  picture  of  Titian  in  the  Friary.  It  represents  a 
Madonna  and  Child,  and  St.  Peter  upon  a  flight  of  steps,  and  below, 
a  group  of  portraits  ;  it  is  in  Titian's  best  manner,  and,  as  it  has  been 
cleaned  lately  and  is  in  good  preservation,  is  in  a  favourable  state  to 
study  from.  Many  of  the  heads  are  admirable  in  every  respect  as 
portraits ;  it  hangs,  however,  in  a  much  weaker  light  than  the  Trans- 
figuration, and,  what  is  still  more  mortifying,  I  could  only  work  after 
mid-day,  and  was  obliged  to  have  every  thing  taken  down  and 
removed  at  night,  which  made  it  exceedingly  inconvenient.  There 
was  one  favourable  circumstance,  however,  I  could  work  as  near  as 

75 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 

I  pleased.  I  am  now  making  a  copy  of  a  St.  John  the  Baptist  by 
Titian,  a  middle  aged  figure  standing,  it  is  in  good  preservation  and  in 
a  tolerable  light ;  it  is  very  finely  coloured,  but  rather  dirty.  There 
is  also  a  very  early  picture  by  Titian  in  the  school  of  the  Charete ;  it 
is  in  good  condition  and  advantageously  placed  for  studying  ;  it  is  one 
of  the  first  things  he  painted  after  he  came  to  Venice,  and  of  course 
not  in  his  best  manner ;  however,  notwithstanding,  many  parts  of  it 
are  very  well,  and  the  manner  of  working  is  plainer  to  be  seen  than  in 
any  other  of  his  pictures  which  I  have  met  with.  I  mention  these  as 
being  the  only  things  I  have  yet  seen  that  one  can  sit  down  to  study 
from ;  his  other  works  are  either  exceedingly  dirty,  damaged,  or  placed 
out  of  reach;  excepting  Judith,  in  one  of  the  palaces,  the  only  easel 
picture  I  have  seen  of  value,  though  inferior  to  some  things  in  the 
Borghese  and  Colonne  palaces  in  Rome.  However,  upon  the  whole, 
I  am  very  glad  I  did  not  make  any  studies  from  his  works  in  Rome  or 
Florence ;  being  thoroughly  convinced  that  a  just  idea  of  Titian  can 
never  be  formed  out  of  Yrenice.  His  great  works  are  of  a  much  higher 
order,  and  of  a  very  different  character  from  those  in  Rome.  Even  his 
damaged  pictures,  as  far  as  examination  goes,  will  be  objects  of  study, 
having  parts  in  good  condition.'  In  conclusion,  he  mentions  the  great 
kindness  shown  to  him  by  Mr.  Udney,  more  particularly  when  he  was 
laid  up  by  illness  for  a  week  at  Bologna.  Romney  was  a  guest  in 
the  consul's  house  during  a  part,  at  least,  of  his  stay  in  Venice,  and, 
thanks  to  his  assistance,  procured  every  possible  facility  for  copying 
pictures. 

In  Venice,  too,  Romney  became  acquainted  with  Edward  Wortley 
Montagu,  who  had  settled  there  after  his  travels  in  the  East.  The  two 
men,  though  so  dissimilar  in  character,  were  attracted  to  one  another, 
and  were  soon  upon  terms  of  familiar  relationship.  Wortley  Montagu 
had  adopted  the  Turkish  dress,  manners,  and  method  of  living,  and  this 
appealed  to  Romney 's  artistic  eye.  He  painted  a  half-length  portrait 
of  his  new  friend  in  Eastern  garb,  which  proved,  says  Hayley,  that  the 
artist  '  had  studied  intensely,  and  successfully,  the  celebrated  colourists 
of  the  Venetian  School.'  Romney 's  departure  from  Venice  brought 
this  new  friendship  to  an  end,  for  a  year  later,  on  April  29th,  1776, 
Montagu  died  in  Padua,  from  a  wound  in  the  throat  caused  by 
swallowing  a  small  bone,  which  set  up  rapid  and  fatal  inflammation. 
The  portrait  of  him  Romney  sold  on  his  return  to  England  to  the 
Earl  of  Warwick  for  fifty  guineas,  on  the  understanding  that  he  was 
allowed  to  make  a  copy  of  it  before  parting  with  it.  The  copy  he 
76 


PORTRAITS   OF  WORTLEY  MONTAGU 


retained  in  his  own  possession  for  many  years,  but  it  was  eventually 
sold  to  Mr.  John  Milnes,  of  Wakefield,  for  forty  guineas,  possibly  at 
the  time  when  Romney  was  painting  the  various  members  of  the 
Milnes  family,  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of  Crewe  at  Fryston. 
A  small  line-engraving  was  made  from  it  by  J.  Conde  in  1793  for 
Seward's  Anecdotes.  Romney  also  made  a  copy  of  the  head  in 
crayons,  '  with  a  view,'  says  his  son,  '  to  ascertain  how  far  he  should 
be  able  to  fix  that  fugitive  manner  of  painting.  This  was  a  subject 
that  had  sometimes  engaged  his  thoughts;  for  certainly  if  transparency 
and  durability  could  be  added  to  the  other  characteristics  of  crayon- 
painting,  a  great  object  in  art  would  be  gained.  The  experiment 
succeeded  nearly  to  his  full  expectation  ;  for  the  glazing  was  applied 
without  disturbing  the  crayons,  which  produced  a  clearness  and 
brilliancy  of  colouring,  hardly  equalled  in  the  finest  Venetian  pictures. 
The  process,  however,  was,  I  believe,  attended  with  so  much  difficulty, 
that  he  was  not  tempted  to  make  any  more  experiments ;  or,  at  least, 
he  had  not  sufficient  leisure  for  such  pursuits.'  This  crayon  study,  to 
John  Romney 's  indignation,  was  given  to  Hayley's  mother,  'prompted, 
I  have  no  doubt,  by  Mr.  Hayley,  who  availed  himself  of  every  means 
to  get  possession  of  such  pictures  as  he  had  set  his  mind  upon.'  This 
study  may  be  the  head  lent  by  Sir  John  Milbanke,  Bart.,  V.C.,  to  the 
Winter  Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy,  1907,  No.  138,  a  circular 
canvas,  21  in.  x  18^  in.,  in  which  Montagu  is  wearing  a  yellow  and 
white  turban,  brown  coat,  and  red  undervest.  Another  version, 
apparently  a  replica  of  the  Warwick  Castle  example,  56 \  in.  x  43  in., 
was  lent  by  the  Earl  of  Wharncliffe  to  the  Guelph  Exhibition,  1891, 
No.  343.  John  Romney  mentions  another  picture  with  which  Hayley 
had  walked  off,  the  head  of  a  young  girl,  painted  from  the  daughter 
of  Mr.  Guy,  a  surgeon  of  Chichester,  of  which  he  speaks  in  rapturous 
terms,  and  is  evidently  very  angry  with  the  poet  for  asking  for  it.  '  It 
was  one  of  the  most  lovely  things  I  ever  saw  ;  it  was  truly  angelic.  It 
represented  a  young  female 

"  With  looks  communing  with  the  skies, 
Her  rapt  soul  sitting  in  her  eyes." 

'  It  was  a  sight  sufficient  to  inspire  the  beholder  with  sentiments  of 
religious  sympathy — it  was  a  visible  illustration  of  piety — a  sermon 
addressed  to  the  eyes — it  was  equal  to  Guido  in  grace,  and  superior  in 
expression. — Her  long  flowing  hair  floated  loosely  over  her  shoulders, 
her  head  encircled  with  a  small  blue  fillet,  and  her  soft  blue  eyes,  all 
contributed  to  sanctify  the  character.  ...  It  was  left  by  Mr.  Hayley's 

77  ' 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Will  to  one  of  his  friends  ;  but  most  of  the  pictures  given  to  Mr.  Hayley 
were,  after  his  decease,  disgracefully  consigned  to  the  hammer.' 

While  in  Venice,  he  received  a  letter  from  the  Incorporated  Society 
of  Artists,  dated  Feb.  10th,  1775,  asking  him  to  send  contributions  to 
their  forthcoming  exhibition,  but  this  invitation  he  declined.  After 
a  stay  of  about  two  months,  he  went  on  to  Parma,  where  he  was 
captivated  by  Correggio,  '  whose  tenderness  and  grace  he  often 
emulated  very  happily  in  his  figures  of  women  and  children,'  says 
Hayley.  '  Having  already  studied  the  principles  of  simplicity, 
grandeur,  and  expression  in  the  works  of  the  Roman  and  Florentine 
painters,  and  afterwards  in  those  of  the  Bolognese ;  and  having, 
also,  now  devoted  a  portion  of  his  valuable  time  to  investigate  the 
mechanical  processes  of  colouring  as  practised  in  the  Venetian  School, 
and  especially  in  the  works  of  Titian ;  not  overlooking  at  the  same 
time  the  other  high  qualities  of  this  distinguished  painter ;  nothing 
more  remained,  in  order  to  complete  the  circle  of  his  studies,'  writes 
his  son,  '  but  to  impress  upon  his  mind  the  graceful  forms,  and  rosy 
beauties  of  Parmigiano  and  Correggio  :  and  surely  nothing  could  be  of 
greater  benefit  to  a  painter  of  women  and  children,  than  to  have  a  clear 
perception  and  feeling  of  that  inexpressible  grace  and  sweetness,  which 
distinguish  and  characterize  the  airs  and  attitudes  of  the  female  figures 
and  angels  of  these  respective  masters  ;  and  to  acquire  that  morbidezza 
which  is  so  remarkable  in  the  colouring  of  Correggio.  It  does  not 
appear,  however,  that  he  made  either  copies  or  studies  from  their  works ; 
but  it  is  manifest  from  his  own  productions,  that  he  had  not  been  an 
idle  or  inattentive  observer  of  their  characteristic  excellencies.' 

It  was  his  intention  later  in  life  to  paint  a  large  picture  in  the 
Correggiesque  style,  the  subject  being  '  Prospero,  Ferdinand,  and 
Miranda,'  from  the  latter  part  of  the  first  act  of  The  Tempest.  His 
son  describes  in  detail  the  preliminary  sketch  Ronmey  made  for  it, 
but  the  picture  itself  was  never  carried  out.1 

After  a  week  or  two  spent  busily  in  Parma,  Romney  hurried 
homewards.  At  Turin  he  met  an  Italian  fencing-master  and  his 
newly-married  wife,  bound,  as  he  was,  for  Paris,  and  they  offered  the 
artist  a  seat  in  their  '  calash,'  on  his  paying  a  third  of  the  cost. 
Romney,  however,  was  not  so  comfortable  as  he  expected  to  be,  as  the 
carriage  was  overcrowded  with  luggage,  which,  combined  with  the 
rough  roads  over  the  Alps,  produced  much  bumping  and  jolting.  The 

1  See  page  144. 

78 


RETURN  TO  LONDON 


horses,  too,  were  good,  and  Romney,  a  nervous  man,  found  the  way  in 
which  they  dashed  down  steep  hills  distinctly  alarming.  The  fencing- 
master,  who  was  stout,  fierce,  and  bluff-looking,  spent  most  of  the 
time  in  quarrelling  with  his  wife,  and  taxing  her  with  infidelity.  She 
was  a  beautiful  and  amusing  young  creature,  with  a  good  voice,  and 
entertained  the  artist  with  songs  in  return  for  chocolates.  The 
cautious  Romney  made  a  point  of  walking  down  the  steepest 
declivities,  and  so,  on  one  occasion,  was  saved  from  a  severe  shaking, 
if  not  a  worse  fate,  for  the  horses  ran  away  and  upset  the  carriage, 
throwing  out  his  travelling  companions,  who,  though  stunned  and 
bruised,  had  happily  no  bones  broken.  Romney,  secretly  amused  at 
the  woe-begone  expression  upon  the  Italian's  naturally  ferocious 
countenance,  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  making  a  hasty  sketch 
of  the  scene  while  the  vehicle,  with  the  assistance  of  some  country 
folk,  was  righted  and  the  luggage  reloaded.  'At  the  inns  upon  the 
road,'  his  son's  entertaining  account  runs,  '  through  defect  of  accom- 
modations, they  were  often  obliged  to  sleep  in  a  double-bedded  room ; 
and  Signore  Italiano,  rising  early,  frequently  left  his  Cara  Sposa  in 
bed,  unmindful  of  the  indelicate  situation  in  which  Mr.  Romney  was 
placed ;  which,  however,  did  not  seem  to  occasion  any  embarrassment 
on  the  part  of  the  lady :  indeed  she  was  always  very  familiar  and  easy 
in  her  deportment,  addressing  him  upon  all  occasions  as  her  caro 
Signore  Anglese.'  Romney,  as  an  admirer  of  Sterne,  had  in  all  pro- 
bability read,  as  all  the  world  was  doing,  the  Sentimental  Journey, 
published  in  1768,  and  this  unconventional  situation  must  have  recalled 
to  his  mind  a  very  similar  one  in  that  very  popular  book. 

On  reaching  Lyons  the  painter  felt  that  he  had  experienced  enough 
of  these  adventures,  and  so  said  farewell  to  his  new  friends,  preferring 
to  finish  his  journey  alone.  In  Paris,  however,  he  found  himself  in  the 
extremely  awkward  position  of  having  insufficient  money  to  enable 
him  to  reach  England,  and  his  dilemma  was  intensified  by  his  ignor- 
ance of  the  language.  Happily  for  him  he  chanced  to  meet  a  Mr. 
Henry  Peirse,  of  Yorkshire,  whose  acquaintance  he  had  made  in 
Venice.  Romney,  ten  or  eleven  years  later,  painted  a  very  beautiful 
full-length  portrait  of  this  gentleman's  little  daughter  or  grand- 
daughter, which,  in  1900,  was  sold  at  Messrs.  Christie's  for  seven 
thousand  guineas.  Mr.  Peirse  was  good  enough  to  lend  him  the 
necessary  funds  for  completing  the  last  stage  of  his  travels,  and,  leaving 
Versailles  on  June  22nd,  he  was  back  in  London  on  July  1st,  1775. 

79 


X 


UPON  his  return  to  London  he  went  back  to  the  chambers  in 
Gray's  Inn  he  had  occupied  between  1764  and  1767,  where  he 
remained  for  the  next  six  months.  John  Romney  could  find 
no  record  of  any  pictures  painted  during  this  period,  but  thought  that 
'  a  few  portraits  of  particular  friends,  some  studies,  and  half-finished 
fancy-pieces,  probably  constituted  the  whole  of  his  performances,  as  he 
must  have  been  quite  unsettled  during  that  time.'  A  few  weeks  after 
his  arrival  he  received  a  letter  from  Richard  Cumberland  containing 
the  offer  of  a  commission  from  the  Earl  of  Warwick.  '  He  has  collected 
some  very  respectable  portraits,'  wrote  the  dramatist,  '  chiefly  of 
Vandyke,  and  has  reserved  a  place  in  his  principal  apartment  for  a 
companion,  where  he  wishes  you  to  try  your  strength  in  the  same  bow 
with  the  best  masters  of  portrait  painting ;  but  as  he  would  not  fetter 
your  fancy  to  any  fixt  subject,  he  leaves  the  object  to  your  own  chusing 
and  all  circumstances  about  it,  only  it  must  be  female,  as  I  believe  it  is 
to  companion  with  Charles  the  first's  queen  by  Vandyke.  It  is  his 
wish  that  you  would  work  upon  this  picture  at  the  castle,  and  he  pro- 
poses to  give  you  possession  of  an  entire  tower,  where  you  will  have 
choice  of  light,  a  most  delightful  workshop,  bedroom,  study,  books, 
and  closets  for  your  tools,  with  all  peace  and  content  that  solitude  and 
serenity  can  give  you.'  The  beginning  of  October  was  the  time 
suggested,  but  for  some  reason,  although  Romney  must  have  felt 
flattered  by  the  proposed  commission,  he  did  not  undertake  it ;  nor  is 
there  any  evidence  that  he  ever  paid  a  visit  to  Warwick,  although 
Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower  states  in  his  book  that  he  was  a 
frequent  guest  there. 

In  September,  Adam  Walker  wrote  to  him  from  York,  where  he 
was  residing  for  the  time,  and,  apparently,  acting  as  guide  to  the  sights 
of  the  city  to  visitors,  begging  him  to  come  down  into  the  country,  and 
holding  out  hopes  of  a  number  of  commissions.  '  If  you  should  ever 
condescend  to  try  provincial  practice,  York  is  not  beneath  your  notice,' 
he  urged  ;  '  or  should  you  have  a  little  time  to  trifle  away,  perhaps  we 
80 


SETTLES  IN   CAVENDISH  SQUARE 


could  find  you  something  even  in  your  own  way  that  you  would  not 
despise.' 1  Walker's  affection  for  the  painter  was  greater  than  his  know- 
ledge of  art,  for  he  concluded  with  a  rapturous  description  of  the  work 
of  a  Mrs.  Morritt,  of  York,  who  copied  '  old  masters  '  in  worsted,  which 
he  thought  equalled  the  originals. 

During  Romney's  absence  in  Italy,  James  Barry  had  started,  in 
1773,  a  project  for  the  decoration  of  the  interior  of  St.  Paul's,  and  six 
painters  were  selected  by  the  Royal  Academy  for  that  purpose.  These 
were  Reynolds,  West,  Barry,  Cipriani,  Dance,  and  Angelica  Kauff- 
mann,  and  each  picture  was  to  be  done  at  the  artist  s  own  expense. 
This  scheme,  however,  had  to  be  abandoned  owing  to  the  opposition 
of  the  Bishop  of  London.  In  the  following  year  the  Society  of  Arts 
stepped  into  the  breach,  and  projected  a  series  of  historical  pictures  for 
the  decoration  of  their  new  room  in  the  Adelphi.  They  chose  the  six 
painters  already  mentioned,  and  added  to  them  four  others — George 
Romney,  Wright  of  Derby,  Mortimer,  and  Penny,  who  were  to  be 
allowed  to  take  the  profits  arising  from  the  exhibition  of  their  work  for 
a  certain  period.  The  artists  in  question  met  at  the  Turk's  Head  to 
discuss  the  offer,  and  finally  decided  to  reject  it,  on  account  of  certain 
of  the  terms  laid  down  by  the  Society ;  and  the  matter  ended  by  Barry 
beginning  the  work  single-handed  in  1777.  All  the  preliminary  discus- 
sions took  place  during  Romney's  absence  from  England,  and  he 
probably  knew  little  of  the  scheme,  though  it  was  one  which  must 
have  appealed  to  him ;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  would  have 
taken  a  share  in  any  project  in  which  both  Reynolds  and  Mortimer 
were  to  take  an  active  part. 

Shortly  after  his  return  his  friends  began  to  urge  him  to  move  into 
a  more  fashionable  quarter  of  the  town,  in  order  that  more  sitters  of 
social  consequence  might  be  attracted  to  his  studio.  A  large  house  in 
Cavendish  Square,  formerly  No.  37  and  now  No.  32,  on  the  south  side, 
was  just  then  vacant  through  the  death  of  Francis  Cotes,  R.A.,  and  it 
was  pointed  out  to  him  that  this  was  an  excellent  opportunity  to  settle 
himself  permanently  within  easy  distance  of  the  fashionable  world. 
The  rent  is  said  to  have  been  one  hundred  guineas  a  year.  Romney, 
who  had  come  back  from  his  travels  with  an  empty  purse,  and  to  a 
certain  extent  in  debt,  was  at  first  very  averse  to  burdening  himself  with 
so  expensive  a  dwelling,  regarding  his  immediate  success  as  very  un- 
certain, and  conscious  that  he  had  a  family  in  the  north  to  support,  and 
more  than  one  brother  to  help.  '  His  case  was  not  that  of  a  painter  in  full 

1  A  letter  quoted  by  Mrs.  Gamlin,  George  Romney  and  his  Art,  p.  70. 
G.  R.-6  Q1 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


practice,'  writes  his  son,  '  removing  from  one  habitation  to  another ;  he 
was  beginning,  as  it  were,  de  novo,  without  the  certainty  of  a  single 
sitter ;  and  had  he  continued  for  two  or  three  months  without  employ- 
ment, or  had  he  been  disabled  by  sickness  for  so  long  a  time,  his  ruin 
was  inevitable.  This  was  in  fact  the  grand  crisis  of  his  life,  on  which 
depended  all  that  is  dear  to  man  in  this  world — fame,  fortune,  and 
happiness.'  Finally,  however,  the  arguments  of  his  friends  prevailed, 
and  he  somewhat  reluctantly  gave  way,  entering  into  possession  of  his 
new  abode  at  Christmas,  1775. 

The  house  is  no  longer  standing.  It  was  demolished  in  1904,  owing 
to  its  dilapidated  condition,  and  a  new  building  with  a  stone  front  was 
erected  in  its  place.  Mr.  Lawrence  Romney,  who  went  over  it  just 
before  it  was  pulled  down,  says  that  the  studio,  which  was  behind  the 
house  at  the  end  of  a  small  garden,  had  an  east  light,  and  was  a  small 
and  beautifully  proportioned  room,  with  a  good  ceiling  and  a  carved 
fireplace ;  and  had  been  little  altered  since  Romney 's  day,  except  that 
a  different  entrance  had  been  made.  The  original  fireplace  has  been 
re-erected  in  the  new  building. 

It  was,  no  doubt,  with  good  reason  that  Romney  felt  anxious  as  to 
the  wisdom  of  this  step,  and  the  possible  result  of  so  great  an  increase 
in  his  expenditure,  more  particularly  as  he  had  been  absent  from 
London  for  so  long  a  time ;  but  it  can  hardly  be  true  that  he  was  in  such 
a  state  of  abject  fear  as  that  in  which  Hayley  pictures  him.  '  In  his 
singular  constitution,'  he  tells  us,  '  there  was  so  much  nervous  timidity, 
united  to  great  bodily  strength,  and  to  enterprising  and  indefatigable 
ambition,  that  he  used  to  tremble,  when  he  waked  every  morning  in 
his  new  habitation,  with  a  painful  apprehension  of  not  finding  business 
sufficient  to  support  him.  These  fears  were  only  early  flutterings  of 
that  incipient  hypochondriacal  disorder,  which  preyed  in  secret  on  his 
comfort  during  many  years  ;  and  which,  tho'  apparently  subdued  by 
the  cheering  exhortations  of  friendship,  and  great  professional  pros- 
perity, failed  not  to  shew  itself  more  formidably,  when  he  was  exhausted 
by  labor,  in  the  decline  of  life.' 

Such  fears  as  he  may  have  had,  however,  were  not  entirely  without 
foundation,  as  some  weeks  passed  before  a  single  sitter  came  to  the  new 
studio,  and  he  must  have  spent  some  anxious  hours  ;  but  when  a 
beginning  had  once  been  made,  his  future  success  was  never  in  doubt ; 
sitters  came  in  rapidly  increasing  numbers,  and  for  the  rest  of  his  life 
he  had  more  work  to  do  than  he  could  accomplish  with  justice  either 
to  his  own  powers  or  to  the  best  interests  of  his  clients.  The  Duke  of 
82 


WORK   FOR  THE  DUKE   OF  RICHMOND 


Richmond  was  the  first  to  give  him  a  commission  for  a  portrait.  This 
was  the  picture  already  mentioned  in  which  the  sitter  was  shown  in 
profile,  reading.1  It  was  universally  admired,  more  than  one  copy  of  it 
being  ordered  by  the  Duke's  friends.  His  grace,  indeed,  proved  to  be 
a  generous  and  appreciative  patron,  for  he  commissioned  portraits  of 
Admiral  Keppel,  Edmund  Burke,  Lord  George  Lennox,  Lord  John 
Cavendish,  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Darner,  and  several  others,  all  of  the  same 
size ;  and  he  also,  in  more  than  once  instance,  employed  him  in 
copying  portraits  by  other  painters,  for  Romney,  whose  time  was 
not  yet  fully  occupied,  took  no  objection  to  such  work.  The 
portrait  of  Admiral  Keppel  was  a  copy,  and  the  one  of  George,  Lord 
Anson,  which  was  exhibited  in  the  Guelph  Exhibition  at  the  New 
Gallery  in  1891,  must  have  been  another,  for  the  sitter  had  died 
thirteen  years  earlier,  in  1762,  at  about  the  date  of  Romney 's  first 
coming  to  town. 

Soon  after  Romney  had  settled  in  Cavendish  Square,  Richard 
Cumberland  again  called  public  attention  to  his  friend,  with  the 
laudable  desire  of  making  his  name  and  work  better  known  to  the 
world.  During  a  tour  he  had  made  in  the  English  lake  district  with 
Lord  Warwick  in  1774,  he  had  written  an  'Ode  to  the  Sun.'  This 
he  published  in  1776,  together  with  a  second  ode  addressed  to  Dr. 
Robert  James,  to  whose  celebrated  powders  Cumberland  attributed 
his  second  son's  recovery  from  a  dangerous  fever,  the  volume  also 
containing  a  long  dedicatory  Epistle  to  Romney,  in  which  the  poet, 
speaking  of  the  painter's  visit  to  Italy,  remarks  that  'you  carried  out 
with  you  a  disinterested  passion  for  your  art,  with  faculties  which  this 
country  hath  rarely  given  birth  to ;  and  you  return  from  your  travels 
with  some  specimens  of  so  auspicious  a  sort,  that,  when  encouragement 
shall  provoke  your  genius  to  its  full  display,  we  are  persuaded  you  will 
take  rank  with  the  first  masters  of  the  highest  province  and  the  best 
age  of  painting.' 

Allan  Cunningham,  speaking  of  Hayleys  and  Cumberland's 
periodical  verses  in  honour  of  Romney,  says : — '  The  poetic  com- 
mendations of  his  friends,  "if  they  did  not,"  as  Gibbon  said,  "con- 
tribute much  to  his  professional  prosperity,  might  be  justly  called 
an  elegant  advertisement  of  his  merit,"  and  were  therefore  useful, 
while  the  titled  and  the  learned  saw,  or  imagined  they  saw,  such 
striking  improvement  in  the  conception  and  handling  of  his  works, 
that  one  of  them  exclaimed,  "  His  manner  of  painting  is  raised  beyond 

1  See  page  43. 

83 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


measure  by  his  studies  in  Italy  ;  his  pictures,  instead  of  being  cold  and 
heavy,  are  warm,  tender,  light  and  beautiful.'"1 

It  was  in  1776  that  Romney  first  made  the  acquaintance  of  one 
whose  influence  over  him  was  to  become  predominant  for  the  remainder 
of  his  life.    William  Hayley,  who  was  eleven  years  younger  than  the 
painter,  was  born  at  Chichester  in  1745,  and  was  educated  at  Eton 
and  Trinity  Hall,  Cambridge.    He  entered  his  name  at  the  Middle 
Temple  in  1766,  leaving  the  university  in  the  following  year,  but  soon 
abandoned  all  thought  of  the  law  as  a  profession,  and  devoted  himself 
to  poetry.    He  had  been  in  love  with  Miss  Frances  Page  for  some 
years,  but  the  engagement  was  broken  off,  and  in  1769  he  married 
Eliza,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Ball,  dean  of  Chichester.  Shortly 
afterwards  his  first  tragedy,  The  Afflicted  Father,  was  refused  by 
Garrick,  and  in  1771  his  translation  of  Corneille's  Rodogune,  which 
he  renamed  The  Syrian  Queen,  suffered  in  the  same  way  at  the 
hands  of  George  Col  man.    He  professed  to  find  the  chief  pleasures 
of  life  in  books,  retirement,  and  congenial  friendships,  and,  in  1774, 
settled  down  in  his  Sussex  villa  at  Eartham.    In  the  following  year 
he  published  his  '  Poetical  Epistle  on  Marriage,'  and  his  '  Ode  to  Cheer- 
fulness,' addressed  respectively  to  his  friends  John  Thornton  and  Mrs. 
ClyfFord.    As  a  young  man  he  had  displayed  some  little  facility  with 
pencil  and  brush,  and,  encouraged  by  the  friendship  and  instruction  of 
Jeremiah  Meyer,  R.A.,  the  miniature  painter,  determined  to  become 
an  artist;  but  in  1772  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  all  hope  of  continu- 
ing his  studies,  owing  to  severe  inflammation  of  the  eyes,  brought  on 
in  the  first  place  by  exposure  to  a  bitter  east  wind  during  a  visit  paid 
to  Captain  Cook  on  board  the  Discovery,  when  that  ship  lay  in  the 
Thames.    So  painting  was  given  up,  and  literature — always  his  'pre- 
dominant passion ' — took  its  place.     There  remained,  however,  the 
desire  for  the  society  and  friendship  of  artists.     In  1776,  having 
settled  down  to  a  country  life,  he  was  anxious  to  procure,  for  the 
decoration  of  his  new  home,  a  few  good  portraits  of  his  more  intimate 
friends,  with  whom  he  had  been  in  the  habit,  when  living  in  London, 
of  frequent  intercourse,  and  he  consulted  Meyer,  who  advised  him  to 
go  to  Romney,  as  one  of  whose  talents  he  had  the  highest  opinion ;  and 
in  this  way  the  long  friendship  between  the  two  men  began. 

Whether  or  not  their  intimacy  was  of  advantage  to  Romney  it  is 
now  somewhat  difficult  to  decide.    Hayley  had  the  best  of  intentions, 

1  Misquoted  by  Cunningham  from  Hayley,  p.  50,  in  a  paragraph  contributed  by  one  of  llomney's 
early  friends. 

84 


PLATE  XV II I 


HIS  RELATIONS  WITH  HAYLEY 


and  was  sincerely  anxious  to  do  everything  in  his  power  to  help  the 
painter,  whom  he  at  once  took  under  his  own  particular  protection  ; 
but  he  was  conceited  and  interfering,  and  in  many  ways  his  influence 
was  undoubtedly  harmful.  He  certainly  encouraged  Romney  in  his 
indifference  to  the  friendship  of  his  fellow  painters,  and  in  his  habit  of 
holding  aloof  from  all  general  artistic  society ;  while,  in  one  instance 
at  least,  in  his  successful  attempt  to  keep  Romney  from  contributing 
to  the  exhibitions  of  the  Royal  Academy,  his  influence  was  so  adverse 
to  the  painter's  best  interests  that  it  is  not  at  all  easy  to  forgive  him. 
Meyer,  on  the  other  hand,  showed  his  sense  in  urging  Romney  to 
support  the  new  Academic  body,  and  the  latter  would,  no  doubt,  have 
done  so,  if  Hayley  had  not  interfered.  Romney,  with  his  fanciful 
suspicions,  and  nervous  irritability,  was  just  the  type  of  man  who 
would  have  benefited  in  all  ways  by  more  regular  intercourse  with  his 
fellows  ;  his  life  would  have  been  happier,  and,  what  was  of  still  greater 
moment,  his  art  would  have  gained  strength  and  power  from  the  friendly 
rivalry  of  the  exhibition  room.  It  is  difficult,  in  reading  Hayley 's 
Life,  to  avoid  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  this  third-rate  poet 
was  something  of  a  toady,  and  that  he  presumed  upon  the  friendship, 
and  was  anxious  to  keep  his  favourite  artist  to  himself  as  much  as 
possible. 

Hayley  was  constantly  begging  for,  or  appropriating,  his  pictures, 
for  which  he  rarely  offered  any  payment.  His  hospitality,  no  doubt, 
was  hearty  and  sincere,  and  Romney 's  annual  visits  to  his  house  were 
of  great  advantage  to  his  health,  his  spirits,  and,  therefore,  to  his  art ; 
but  his  host  was  constantly  egging  him  on  to  undertake  big  projects — 
projects  which,  begun  with  the  utmost  enthusiasm,  were  never  carried 
to  completion,  and  thus  were  harmful  both  to  the  artist  and  his  art. 
There  must,  however,  have  been  many  engaging  qualities  in  the  author 
of  The  Triumphs  of  Temper,  or  he  would  never  have  numbered  among 
his  personal  friends  four  men  of  genius  like  Cowper,  Flaxman,  Romney, 
and  William  Blake,  though  the  last-named  soon  discovered  how  shallow 
were  his  pretensions  to  a  knowledge  of  what  constituted  fine  art.  He 
was  somewhat  puffed  up  with  his  reputation  as  a  man  of  literary  and 
artistic  tastes,  and  gloried  in  posing  as  a  patron  of  the  arts,  but  what 
little  posthumous  celebrity  he  still  retains  is  owing  to  his  friendships 
and  not  to  his  verses. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  most  of  the  men  who  became 
intimate  with  him  held  him  in  very  high  regard.  Southey  said  of 
him  : — '  All  who  knew  him,  concur  in  describing  his  manners  as  in 

85 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


the  highest  degree  winning,  and  his  conversation  as  delightful.  It 
is  said  that  few  men  have  ever  rendered  so  many  essential  acts  of 
kindness  to  those  who  stood  in  need  of  them.  His  errors  were 
neither  few  nor  trifling ;  but  his  good  qualities  greatly  pre- 
ponderated. He  was  a  most  affectionate  father,  a  most  warm  and 
constant  friend.' 

The  first  portrait  Romney  painted  for  Hayley  was  of  William 
Long,  of  Preshaw,  near  Bishop's  Waltham,  who  gained  great  dis- 
tinction as  a  surgeon  in  London.  He  was  about  thirty  when  he 
sat  to  the  artist,  and  the  two  men  became  very  intimate.  Long 
afterwards  possessed  a  number  of  Romney 's  works,  among  them  the 
full-length  of  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  Circe,'  '  Cupid  and  Psyche,'  and 
'  Henderson  as  Macbeth.'  He  was  himself  an  amateur  artist,  and  he 
attempted  to  improve  the  two  first-named  pictures  with  singularly 
infelicitous  results,  but  his  handiwork  has  since  been  removed  from 
at  least  one  of  the  originals.  These  pictures  remained  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Long  family  until  1890,  when  thirteen  of  them  were  sold 
at  Messrs.  Christie's  by  his  descendant,  Mr.  Walter  J.  Long,  of 
Preshaw.  The  most  important  example,  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  Circe,' 
fetched  three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty  guineas.  Several  of 
the  others  were  bought  in,  and  five  re-appeared  at  Messrs.  Christie's 
on  June  6th,  1896.  Long  was  distantly  related  by  marriage  to  the 
Greenes,  and  his  own  portrait  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  H. 
Dawson-Greene  at  Whittington  Hall. 

The  portrait  of  Long  was  followed  by  one  of  John  Thornton,  a  lawyer, 
who  had  been  a  fellow-student  with  Hayley  at  Cambridge  ;  but  he 
died  before  the  painter  could  put  the  last  touches  to  the  canvas. 
A  third  commission  was  a  portrait  of  the  poet  himself,  for  the 
purpose  of  which  Hayley  and  his  wife  spent  some  weeks  in  London 
in  1777. 

From  the  beginning  of  their  friendship  Hayley  was  genuinely 
anxious  as  to  Romney 's  health,  and  did  everything  that  he  could  to 
persuade  him  to  take  a  reasonable  amount  of  exercise  and  to  regulate 
his  hours  of  work.  '  In  the  first  year  of  my  acquaintance  with 
Romney,'  he  writes,  '  I  observed,  that  with  admirable  faculties  for 
attaining  excellence  in  his  art,  he  had  some  peculiarities,  that  threatened 
to  impede  his  progress ;  and  that  he  would  frequently  want  the 
counsel  of  a  frank  and  faithful  monitor,  to  guard  him  against  those 
excesses  of  impetuous  and  undisciplined  imagination,  which  often 
lead  the  fervent  votaries  of  fame  to  destroy  their  own  powers  by 
86 


HAYLEY'S  YILLA  AT  EARTHAM 


intemperance  in  study.  The  first  invitation  that  I  sent  him  to 
visit  my  retirement,  contained,  both  in  prose  and  verse,  a  long  and 
friendly  remonstrance  against  his  want  of  proper  attention  to  his 
own  health.' 

Hayleys  Sussex  home  was  some  six  miles  from  Chichester,  and 
nearly  the  same  distance  from  Arundel.  The  house,  which  was 
originally  a  small  villa  built  by  his  father  as  a  summer  residence  for 
his  children  on  an  estate  he  had  acquired  in  1743,  was  now  of  com- 
fortable size,  as  Hayley,  at  the  time  of  his  marriage,  spent  a  consider- 
able sum  in  enlarging  and  improving  it,  and,  in  1774,  took  up  his 
permanent  residence  there  with  his  young  wife.  Six  years  later  he 
added  a  large  library,  built  over  an  arcade,  or  verandah,  which  was 
decorated  by  Flaxman  and  Romney. 

Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower,  who  went  to  Eartham  when  writ- 
ing his  Life  of  the  artist,  gives  an  interesting  description  of  its  present 
condition : — 

'  When  visiting  Eartham  I  found  the  house,  although  modernised, 
still  retaining  many  of  its  original  features ;  the  library — a  handsome 
room  looking  to  the  south,  above  the  verandah  (there  is  but  one  storey 
at  Eartham) — much  as  when,  from  its  windows,  Romney  and  his  fellow 
guests  could  see  the  rolling  downs,  and  be}rond  them  the  silver  sea,  with 
the  Isle  of  Wight  like  some  enchanted  isle  in  a  picture  by  Claude. 
This  library  was  decorated  by  Flaxman  and  Romney ;  their  handiwork 
is  still  visible  on  its  walls — but  the  gallery  of  portraits  painted  by 
Romney  of  his  host  and  his  friends  has  vanished.  The  only  painting 
I  could  find  at  Eartham  from  Romney 's  brush  was  the  turbaned  head 
of  Edward  Wortley  Montagu,  taken  from  the  half-length  which  he 
painted  when  he  met  that  eccentric  Englishman  at  Venice,  now  at 
Warwick  Castle.' 

The  house  was  beautifully  situated.  Cowper,  who  stayed  there  in 
the  summer  of  1792,  wrote  most  enthusiastically  about  it  to  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Greatheed  : — '  Here  we  are  in  the  most  elegant  mansion  that  I 
ever  inhabited,  and  surrounded  by  the  most  delightful  pleasure-grounds 
that  I  have  ever  seen.  ...  It  shall  suffice  me  to  say  that  they  occupy 
three  sides  of  a  hill,  which  in  Buckinghamshire  might  well  pass  for  a 
mountain,  and  from  the  summit  of  which  is  beheld  a  most  magni- 
ficent landscape,  bounded  by  the  sea,  and  in  one  part  by  the  Isle 
of  Wight,  which  also  may  be  seen  plainly  from  the  windows  of  the 

87 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


library  in  which  I  am  writing.  ...  It  is  almost  a  paradise  in  which 
we  dwell.' 

In  another  letter,  addressed  to  Mrs.  Courtenay,  he  says: — 'The 
inland  scene  is  equally  beautiful,  consisting  of  a  large  and  deep  valley 
well  cultivated,  and  inclosed  by  magnificent  hills,  all  crowned  with 
wood.  I  had,  for  my  part,  no  conception  that  a  poet  could  be  the 
owner  of  such  a  paradise ;  and  his  house  is  as  elegant  as  his  scenes 
are  charming.' 

A  picture  of  the  house,  as  it  was  in  1892,  taken  from  a  photograph, 
is  given  in  Mr.  Thomas  Wright's  Life  of  Cowper,  from  which  it  appears 
to  be  a  large  and  comfortable  mansion,  of  no  great  architectural  preten- 
sions, placed  amid  very  delightful  scenery.  It  came  subsequently  into 
the  possession  of  the  Huskisson  family,  and  is  now  the  residence  of  Sir 
Peniston  Milbanke. 

Romney  accepted  Hayley's  invitation  to  Eartham,  and  spent  some 
happy  weeks  there.  This  was  the  first  of  many  similar  visits  ;  indeed, 
for  more  than  twenty  years  no  autumn  passed  without  a  journey  into 
Sussex.  These  weeks  spent  in  the  fresh  country  air  were  invaluable 
to  one  who  continually  over-worked  himself  in  his  town  studio. 
'  He  used  generally  to  arrive  much  exhausted  by  his  professional  labor 
in  London,'  says  his  host ;  '  but  the  bracing  air  of  a  healthy  village,  and 
that  best  medicine  of  life,  sympathetic  friendship,  so  rapidly  produced 
their  beneficial  effects,  that  Romney,  after  a  day  or  two  of  absolute  rest, 
usually  regained  all  the  native  energy  of  his  mind ;  and  displayed  an 
eagerness  for  extensive  enterprize  in  that  province  of  his  art,  which 
peculiarly  belongs  to  imagination.' 

On  these  occasions  much  time  was  spent  in  devising  subjects  for 
Romney  s  brush.  '  My  particular  friends  of  the  pencil,  Meyer, 
Romney,  and  Wright  of  Derby,'  boasts  Hayley,  '  were  all  inclined  to 
give  me  much  more  credit  for  intelligence  in  the  theory  of  painting 
than  I  deserved ;  Wright  and  Romney  especially,  who  thought  I  had 
a  facility  in  selecting,  or  inventing,  new  and  happy  subjects  for  the 
pencil,  were  in  the  habit  of  inviting  me  to  this  chace  of  ideas.  When- 
ever Romney  was  my  guest,  I  was  glad  to  put  aside  my  own 
immediate  occupation,  whatever  it  chanced  to  be,  for  the  pleasure  of 
searching  for,  and  presenting  to  him,  a  copious  choice  of  such  subjects, 
as  might  happily  exercise  his  powers.  I  have  often  blamed  myself  for 
not  preserving  some  memoranda  of  the  infinite  number  of  sketches, 
88 


HIS   IMAGINATIVE  DESIGNS 


that  my  active  and  rapid  friend  used  to  make  in  his  autumnal  visits  to 
Eartham  :  several  were  on  canvas  in  colours  ;  but  the  greater  number 
executed  very  hastily  on  paper  with  a  pen.  His  eagerness  in  multi- 
plying, and  collecting  these,  was  extreme ;  and  we  were  both  anxious, 
that  they  should  attend  him  on  his  return  to  London,  because  most  of 
them  were  little  more  than  hasty  hints  intended  to  form  the  ground 
work  of  maturer  studies  in  the  approaching  winter  ;  but  every  winter 
brought  so  much  new  occupation  for  the  pencil  in  its  train,  that  I 
believe  the  sketches  of  the  autumn  were  often  suffered  to  sleep  in 
oblivion.' 

With  the  most  laudable  intention  of  urging  Romney  to  devote  his 
highest  powers  to  the  production  of  works  of  imagination,  instead  of 
wasting  himself  in  the  more  lucrative  drudgery  of  portrait  painting, 
Hayley  went  much  too  far  towards  the  other  extreme.  The  slightest 
suggestion  was  sufficient  to  set  the  artist's  imagination  on  fire ;  and  in 
this  way  he  dashed  off  countless  designs  for  pictures,  many  of  them  of 
real  beauty  and  feeling,  but  few  of  which  were  ever  finished.  The 
inspiration  which  marked  the  first  conception  of  a  new  idea  soon 
became  dulled,  and  Romney  lacked  the  power  of  concentrated  and 
prolonged  effort  which  is  necessary  if  large  and  complicated  composi- 
tions are  to  be  carried  to  completion.  Any  small  difficulty,  such  as 
the  want  of  a  suitable  model  at  the  right  moment,  was  cause  enough 
to  induce  him  to  put  the  design  on  one  side,  never,  in  spite  of  the 
best  intentions,  to  be  taken  up  again ;  for  his  fancy  was  already 
aflight  after  some  fresh  ideal  conception,  and  thus  much  time  was 
frittered  away  without  tangible  result,  and  with  little  advantage  to  his 
art.  With  the  most  ardent  desire  to  paint  such  subjects— classical, 
historical,  idealistic — and  no  fear  of  hard  work,  Romney  yet  lacked  the 
concentration  necessary  for  success  in  what,  to  him,  was  the  highest 
branch  of  painting. 

Not  strong  enough  in  character  to  set  a  limit  to  his  portrait 
painting  sufficient  to  allow  him  adequate  time  in  which  to  devote 
himself  seriously  to  imaginative  work,  he  yet  ruined  his  health  by 
giving  up  his  nights  to  such  studies ;  so  that  most  of  his  Eartham 
exercises,  though  at  the  time  an  undoubted  refreshment  and  stimulus 
to  his  tired  brain,  were  useless,  if  not  absolutely  harmful,  to  him. 
Hayley,  no  doubt,  unduly  encouraged  him  in  this,  and  while  striving 
with  the  best  intentions  to  help  his  friend,  was,  through  a  somewhat 
natural  delight   in    his   own  fertility   of  resource    in  suggesting 

89 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


subjects  from  poets  and  classical  authors,  merely  urging  him  to 
the  over-exercise  of  an  imagination  sadly  needing  restraint.  Greater 
moderation  on  Hayley's  part  would  have  been  most  beneficial  to 
Romney's  art. 

One  of  their  first  joint  projects  was  a  work  on  the  story  of  Cupid 
and  Psyche  as  told  by  Apuleius,  to  be  versified  by  Hayley  in  the 
fashion  of  Dryden's  Fables,  and  illustrated  by  Romney,  for  which 
the  artist  made  eight  cartoons  in  black  chalk.1  Hayley,  however, 
soon  threw  the  poem  aside  in  favour  of  his  '  Epistles  to  Romney,'  which 
were  written  in  1777,  and  published  by  Dodsley  in  the  following  year, 
with  the  purpose  of  both  adding  to  the  reputation  of  the  artist,  and 
to  that  of  the  poet  and  patron.  The  book,  which  was  issued  anony- 
mously, gained  some  popularity,  and  was  at  first  attributed  to  Richard 
Cumberland. 

Hayley,  no  doubt,  is  right  when  he  ascribes  much  of  Romney's 
failure  to  produce  any  body  of  finished  imaginative  work  to  his  want 
of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  anatomy,  and  to  the  difficulties  he  could 
not  altogether  overcome  in  his  attempts  to  draw  the  human  figure  with 
accuracy,  which  arose  through  lack  of  systematic  training  in  his  youth. 
Romney  was  himself  aware  of  this,  and  so  whenever  these  difficulties 
arose — difficulties  which  did  not  obtrude  themselves  in  the  same  way 
in  portrait  painting, — he  soon  became  discouraged,  and,  finally,  laid 
aside  the  canvas  in  despair,  if  not  disgust.  Certainly,  he  did  not 
bequeath  to  posterity  that  important  series  of  historical  paintings 
which  at  one  time  Hayley  expected  from  him  with  some  confidence. 
His  '  magnificent  intentions '  were  greater  than  his  powers  of 
execution. 

'  Those,  who  knew  him  intimately,'  writes  his  friend,  *  know,  what 
faculties  he  possessed  for  the  attainment  of  excellence  in  the  highest 
province  of  art;  and  they  have  often  lamented  that  the  number,  and 
magnitude,  of  his  historical  works  must  appear  so  very  inadequate, 
not  only  to  his  mental  powers,  but  to  his  passion  for  glory,  and  to 
the  infinite  number  of  hours,  that  he  devoted  to  the  manual  exercise 
of  art.  .  .  .  The  enemies  of  my  friend  have  imputed  it  to  two  causes 
equally  false :  first  to  avarice,  which  confined  him  to  portraits ;  and 
secondly  to  a  deficiency  of  talent  for  works  of  invention : — but  it  is  an 
honest  truth,  that  Romney  loved  honor  infinitely  more  than  gold  ; 
and  had  received  from  nature  a  most  creative  fancy  ;  but  it  must  be 
confest,  that  he  had  never  completely  counteracted  one  defect  in  his 

1  See  page  .358. 

90 


HAY  LEY'S  INFLUENCE 


early  education  as  a  painter :  he  had  not  thoroughly  acquired  that 
mastery  in  anatomical  science,  which  should  enable  a  great  inventive 
artist  to  draw  the  human  figure,  in  all  its  variations  of  attitude,  with 
ease  and  truth,  and  consequently  with  delight  to  himself.  It  is 
perhaps  a  general  infirmity  in  our  nature,  that  man  loves  to  employ 
himself  chiefly  in  what  he  can  perform  with  the  greatest  ease  and 
success.  Romney  had  painted  faces  so  incessantly,  and  painted  them 
so  well,  that  to  paint  a  new  face  became  one  of  his  peculiar  delights. 
He  delighted  no  less  in  sketching  scenes  from  fancy ;  and  his  invention 
had  all  the  rapidity,  and  exuberance,  of  genius ;  but  he  did  not  equally 
love  the  less  amusing  labor,  by  which  a  figure  rapidly  invented  must 
be  slowly  ripened  into  an  accurate  perfection  of  form.  Hence  he 
produced  innumerable  portraits,  and  an  astonishing  multitude  of 
sketches  from  fancy;  but  the  hours  he  devoted  to  each  of  these 
favorite  occupations  left  him  not  time  sufficient  to  produce  many  such 
works  of  studied  invention,  as  he  most  wished,  and  intended  to  execute 
in  the  autumn  of  life.' 

The  Rev.  John  Romney  is  very  bitter  in  his  references  to  Hayley 
and  to  the  influence  he  gained  over  his  father.  '  Though  Mr.  Romney 
was  now  in  full  practice,'  he  writes,  speaking  of  the  publication  of 
*  The  Epistles,'  '  the  acknowledged  rival  of  Sir  Joshua,  and  needed  no 
adventitious  aid  to  increase  his  celebrity ;  yet  a  compliment  so 
flattering  did  not  fail  to  inspire  him  with  warm  feelings  of  gratitude 
towards  the  author,  which  were  soon  afterwards  ripened  into  friend- 
ship— friendship  ardent  and  confidential  on  his  part.  The  influence, 
however,  that  this  connexion  had  upon  Mr.  Romney's  subsequent  life, 
was  in  many  respects  injurious.  It  is  an  invidious  task  to  disturb 
the  repose  of  the  dead,  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  animadvert 
upon  the  character  of  Mr.  Hayley  further  than  as  it  comes  in  contact 
with  the  life  of  Mr.  Romney.  He,  however,  by  writing  his  own 
Memoirs,  and  leaving  them  for  posthumous  publication,  may  in  truth 
be  said  to  have  perpetrated  that  unholy  deed  himself,  and  to  have  set 
an  example  for  the  justification  of  others.  Mr.  Hayley 's  friendship 
was  grounded  on  selfishness,  and  the  means,  by  which  he  maintained 
it  was  flattery.  By  this  art  he  acquired  a  great  ascendency  over  the 
mind  of  Mr.  Romney,  and  knew  well  how  to  avail  himself  of  it  for 
selfish  purposes.  He  was  able,  also,  by  a  canting  kind  of  hypocrisy, 
to  confound  the  distinctions  between  vice  and  virtue,  and  to  give  a 
colouring  to  conduct,  that  might,  and  probably  did  mislead  Mr. 
Romney  on  some  occasions.    He  likewise  drew  him  too  much  from 

91 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


general  society,  and  almost  monopolized  him  himself,  and  thus 
narrowed  the  circle  of  his  acquaintance  and  friends.  By  having 
intimated  an  intention  of  writing  Mr.  Romney's  life,  he  made  him 
extremely  afraid  of  doing  any  thing  that  might  give  offence.  There 
was  a  wrong-headedness  in  the  general  conduct  of  Mr.  Hayley,  arising 
from  the  influence  of  powerful  passions,  that  disqualified  him  for  being 
a  judicious  and  prudent  adviser ;  yet  he  was  always  interfering  in  the 
affairs  of  Mr.  Romney,  and  volunteering  his  advice :  and  I  have  too 
much  reason  to  believe,  that  whatever  errors  the  latter  may  have 
committed,  they  were  mainly  owing  to  the  counsel,  or  instigation  of 
Mr.  Hayley.  I  will  just  mention  one  instance,  though  certainly  of 
comparatively  little  importance,  yet  sufficient  to  illustrate  my  asser- 
tion. Mr.  Hayley  admits,  that  when  Meyer,  the  Royal  Academician, 
so  competent  to  form  a  just  opinion  on  the  subject,  endeavoured  to 
prevail  on  Mr.  Romney  to  exhibit,  in  order  to  be  admitted  a  member 
of  that  body,  he  himself  used  every  argument  to  dissuade  him  from  it, 
assigning  as  his  motive  the  mental  peculiarities  of  his  friend.  The 
covert  reason,  I  have  no  doubt  was,  that,  as  he  himself  was  not 
favourably  disposed  towards  the  Court,  he  did  not  wish  Mr.  Romney 
to  become  connected  with  it.  The  ostensible  motive,  however,  is 
certainly  absurd  :  for  Mr.  Romney's  mental  peculiarities,  by  which,  I 
suppose,  he  means  his  nervous  irritability,  and  quick  susceptibility  of 
feeling,  only  became  an  infirmity  when  his  health  was  impaired  by 
application  and  age :  but,  at  any  time,  his  natural  love  of  tranquility, 
and  dislike  of  all  squabbles  and  intrigues,  would  have  guarded 
him  from  those  disquietudes  and  vexations,  which  Mr.  Hayley 
pretends  to  have  foreseen.  Did  any  of  such  consequences  follow 
on  his  exhibiting  five  years  before  with  the  chartered  Society  in 
Spring  Gardens  ? 

'  Had  he  become  a  R.  A.  it  did  not  follow  that  he  should  have 
aspired  to  the  President's  Chair :  though  his  high  professional  talents 
and  powerful  genius  might  have  justified  him  in  entertaining  such 
ambition  ;  yet,  from  what  I  know  of  the  character  of  his  mind,  I  am 
sure  he  would  have  shunned  any  such  preeminence.  He  did  not  seek 
to  gratify  vain  ambition,  his  sole  object  was  to  excel  in  his  art,  and 
nothing  could  have  arisen  from  the  circumstance  of  his  being  a  R.  A. 
that  would  in  any  respect  have  ruffled  or  disturbed  his  feelings : — but, 
certainly,  many  important  advantages  might  have  resulted  from  it. 
The  royal  patronage  might  have  been  extended  to  him  ;  at  least,  his 
not  exhibiting  was  assigned  as  a  reason  why  it  was  not.  But  the 
92 


HAYLEY'S  INFLUENCE 

principal  advantage  would  have  been,  the  making  his  best  works 
familiar  to  the  public,  and  the  leaving  a  record  of  their  existence  ; 
whereas  most  of  them  are  now  hid  in  obscurity,  or  only  seen  by 
a  small  domestic  circle ;  and  many,  perhaps,  suffered  to  perish 
from  not  being  duly  appreciated.  It.  would  also  have  stimulated 
his  exertion,  and  made  him  produce  a  greater  number  of  excellent 
pictures.' 1 

1  John  Romney,  pp.  138-141. 


93 


XI 


ONE  of  Romney's  earliest  commissions,  after  he  had  settled 
down  in  his  new  abode,  and  clients  were  beginning  to  seek 
him  out,  was  from  the  Hon.  Thomas  Orde,  afterwards  Lord 
Bolton,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  artist,  and  reading  to  him 
passages  from  the  poets  which  he  considered  would  serve  as  good 
subjects  for  pictures.  He  requested  Romney  to  paint  a  '  Mater 
Dolorosa  '  for  presentation  as  an  altar-piece  for  the  Chapel  of  King's 
College,  Cambridge.  Considerable  progress  had  been  made  with  the 
picture,  when  the  projected  gift  was  forestalled  by  one  from  the  Earl 
of  Carlisle,  who  gave  an  example  of  Daniele  da  Volterra  for  the  same 
purpose ;  whereupon  Mr.  Orde  abandoned  his  project,  and  Romney  in 
this  way  lost,  not  only  the  hundred  guineas  he  was  to  have  received, 
but  much  time  as  well.  The  unfinished  picture  was  put  on  one  side, 
and  never  taken  up  again.  Four  studies  for  it  are  in  the  Fitzwilliam 
Museum,  Cambridge. 

In  1776  he  suffered  from  an  illness  which  nearly  proved  fatal.  On 
the  10th  of  June  he  went  to  Drury  Lane  Theatre  for  the  purpose  of 
seeing  Garrick  make  his  farewell  appearance  on  the  stage,  but  the 
crowd  was  so  great  that  he  was  unable  to  get  in.  He  was  caught  in 
the  rain  while  waiting  outside,  but  in  spite  of  this  went  to  the  rival 
theatre,  and  sat  all  the  evening  in  his  damp  clothes.  Next  day  Richard 
Cumberland  found  him  so  ill  from  the  chill,  that  he  sent  post  haste  for 
Sir  Richard  Jebb,  who  promptly  ordered  him  to  drink  a  bottle  of 
Madeira.  Sir  Richard  afterwards  told  Cumberland  that  if  his  advice 
had  been  delayed  for  half  an  hour  longer  the  painter's  life  could  not 
have  been  saved.  Garrick  had  promised  to  sit  to  him,  and  for  this 
reason  Romney  was  anxious  to  study  him  while  on  the  stage,  and 
hence  his  fruitless  visit  to  Drury  Lane.  This  illness  caused  the 
abandonment  of  the  portrait,  though  John  Romney  goes  out  of  his 
way  to  suggest  that  the  real  reason  was  the  malevolent  influence  of 
Garrick's  friend,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  For  the  rest  of  Romney's  life, 
Sir  Richard  Jebb  attended  him  without  fee,  only  accepting  in  return  a 
94 


PLATE  XIX 


WILLIAM  COWPER 

IN  THE  NATIONAL  PORTRAIT  GALLERY 

Pages  /7S,  332 


LADY  HAMILTON  AS  CONTEMPLATION 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  LIEUT. -COL.  SIR  AUDLEY  NEELD,  DT. 

Pages  /Sj,  314 


HIS   GROWING  POPULARITY 


small  drawing  of  the  head  of  their  common  friend,  Lord  Chancellor 
Thurlow,  copied  from  the  large  picture  painted  for  Lord  Gower. 
Later  on,  at  Romney's  particular  request,  Jebb  sat  to  him  for  a  half- 
length  portrait,  of  which  the  head  only  was  finished.  It  afterwards 
became  the  property  of  a  nephew  of  Sir  Richard's  who  lived  in 
Ireland. 

Romney  was  already  fast  becoming  one  of  the  favourite  portrait- 
painters  of  the  day,  and  his  merits  and  defects  were  discussed  in  those 
circles  where  a  knowledge  of  art  was  affected.  In  Fanny  Burney's 
Diary  there  is  an  echo  of  this,  in  an  entry  dated  September  26th,  1778, 
when  she  was  staying  with  the  Thralesat  Streatham  : — 'The  other 
evening  the  conversation  fell  upon  Romney,  the  painter,  who  has 
lately  got  into  great  business,  and  who  was  first  recommended  and 
patronised  by  Mr.  Cumberland.  "  See,  Madam,"  said  Dr.  Johnson, 
laughing,  "  what  it  is  to  have  the  favour  of  a  literary  man  !  I  think  I 
have  had  no  hero  a  great  while.  Dr.  Goldsmith  was  my  last ;  but  I 
have  had  none  since  his  time  till  my  little  Burney  came." ' 

John  Romney  prints  a  long,  but  incomplete,  list  of  the  portraits 
painted  by  his  father  during  the  years  immediately  following  his 
return  from  Italy,  among  them  being  many  of  the  finest  works  he  ever 
accomplished,  such  as  the  big  group  of  the  children  of  Lord  Gower 
dancing  in  a  ring,  recently  removed  from  Trentham  to  Stafford  House. 
Others  were  of  the  Duchess  of  Gordon  with  her  son,  the  Marquis  of 
Huntly ;  the  Clavering  children ;  the  Countess  of  Albemarle  and  her 
son,  with  dogs ;  Mrs.  Stables  and  her  two  children  ;  Master  and  Miss 
Boone;  and  Mrs.  Morris  and  her  boy.  To  these  must  be  added  a 
number  of  others  described  in  a  later  chapter,  including  various 
members  of  the  Cumberland  family,  and  the  fine  portraits  of  his 
friends  the  Carwardines,  of  Colne  Priory,  near  Yeldham,  Essex.  The 
Rev.  Thomas  Carwardine,  prebendary  of  St.  Paul's,  and  rector  of 
Earl's  Colne  and  Little  Yeldham,  was  of  the  same  age  as  the  painter, 
who  often  visited  the  Priory,  which  had  come  to  Carwardine  through 
his  marriage  in  1771  with  Miss  Anne  Holgate. 

One  of  his  most  important  commissions,  with  which,  from  1776 
onwards,  he  was  occupied  for  five  or  six  years,  was  a  series  of  portraits 
of  the  various  members  of  the  family  of  Earl  Gower,  afterwards  first 
Marquis  of  Stafford.  Both  the  Earl  and  his  Countess,  and  later  on 
their  son,  Lord  Trentham,  first  Duke  of  Sutherland,  and  his  wife  the 
Countess  of  Sutherland,  were  good  friends  to  the  artist.  The  big 
dancing  group  just  mentioned  contains  the  portraits  of  Lady  Anne, 

95 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


who  married  the  Rev.  Edward  Vemon-Harcourt,  a  daughter  of  Lord 
Gower's  second  wife  (Lady  Louisa  Egerton),  and  the  four  children  of 
the  third  wife  (Lady  Susannah  Stewart),  a  boy,  Granville  Gower,  first 
Lord  Granville,  and  three  girls,  afterwards  the  Duchess  of  Beaufort, 
Lady  Harrowby,  and  Lady  Georgiana  Eliot.  Romney  also  painted  a 
fine  full-length  of  Earl  Gower,  and  three-quarter  lengths  of  Lord 
Trentham  and  his  sister  Caroline,  afterwards  Countess  of  Carlisle  (see 
Plates  v.,  vi.,  and  vn.),  and  a  lovely  half-length  of  the  Duchess-Countess 
of  Sutherland. 

A  most  interesting  letter,  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Countess 
Granville,  from  Romney  to  the  Countess  Gower,  with  reference  to 
these  portraits,  is  reproduced  in  facsimile  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland 
Gower's  book  on  the  painter,  and  is  given  here,  with  his  kind 
permission  : — 

'  My  Lady, — I  can  with  pleasure  acquaint  your  Ladyship  (in 
answer  to  the  letter  I  have  had  the  honour  to  receive)  that  Lady 
Carlisle's  Portrait  is  finished,  and  much  to  my  liking ;  Lord  Trent- 
ham's  will  be  finished  in  a  day  or  two,  and  your  ladyship  may  depend 
on  my  sending  them  on  as  soon  as  they  are  dry  and  in  a  condition  to 
be  packed  up.  I  have  been  applyed  to  by  a  Mezzotinto  engraver  to 
do  a  print  from  Lady  Carlisle's  Portraite,  Lord  Carlisle  consented 
to  the  engraver  some  time  ago  to  have  one  done  from  it,  if  it  should 
meet  with  your  Ladyship's  approbation.  I  believe  it  would  do  me 
much  credit,  as  I  thinke  it  is  one  of  the  best  Pictures  I  have  painted. 
If  I  do  not  hear  from  your  Ladyship  respecting  the  print,  I  shall  send 
the  pictures  as  soon  as  they  are  ready.  Your  Ladyship  may  depend 
on  my  Lord's  whole  length  being  finished  as  soon  as  I  possibly  can. 
The  picture  of  the  Ladys  is  at  the  engraver's  and  will  be  advanced 
with  all  expedition ;  the  charge  will  amount  to  two  hundred  guineas, 
forty  guineas  for  each  of  the  Ladys  that  are  dancing,  sixty  for  Lady 
Ann,  and  twenty  for  Mr.  Leveson,  which  charge  I  hope  will  meet 
with  your  Ladyship's  approbation  ;  it  is  the  mode  I  have  established 
for  estimating  figures  in  composition. 

'  Lady  Carlisle's  and  Lord  Trentham 's  will  be  thirty  six  guineas 
each.— I  have  the  honour  to  be  Your  Ladyship's  much  obliged,  and 
most  obedient  servant,  Geo.  Romney 

'  London,  August  12th,  1780/ 


By  this  time  his  reputation  already  stood  high  in  popular  favour, 
96 


SUBJECTS   FROM   GREEK  TRAGEDY 


and  his  pictures  were  in  demand  by  the  engravers.  In  1777  Johann 
Jacobe,  the  Viennese  engraver,  came  to  England,  and  remained  for 
some  years,  reproducing  several  of  the  works  both  of  Reynolds  and 
Romney  in  mezzotint.  Among  the  latter  were  portraits  of  Edward 
Chamberlayne,  Lord  George  Germaine,  afterwards  Viscount  Sackville, 
and  William  Hayley. 

The  first  visit  paid  by  John  Romney  to  his  father's  new  house  was 
in  January  1777,  when  he  discovered  him  working  in  the  evening  by 
lamp-light  upon  a  composition  of  numerous  small  figures,  the  subject 
being  '  The  Accusation  of  Susannah  by  the  two  Elders.'  Romney  was 
in  the  habit  of  working  at  night  in  this  way,  in  spite  of  the  great 
strain  upon  his  eyes,  and  the  injurious  effect  upon  his  health. 

In  this  year  Hayley  wrote  his  1  Epistles  to  Romney '  already  men- 
tioned. '  The  main  object  of  this  poem,'  remarks  the  complacent 
author, '  was  to  encourage  the  just  ambition  of  the  painter  ;  to  persuade 
him  not  to  waste  too  large  a  portion  of  life  in  the  lucrative  drudgery 
of  his  profession  ;  but  to  aspire  to  the  acquisition  of  practical  excellence 
in  the  highest  department  of  his  art.' 1 

Romney  was  always  delighted  when  any  of  his  literary  acquaint- 
ances took  the  trouble  to  provide  him  with  good  subjects  from  the 
poets.  One  of  these  friends  was  Dr.  Potter,  translator  of  the  Greek 
tragedians,  who,  in  1779,  when  writing  to  acknowledge  the  safe  arrival 
of  his  portrait,  which  Romney  had  painted  and  given  to  him,  speaks  of 
a  scene  from  Alcestis,  which  the  artist  had  suggested  as  a  good 
subject,  and  offers  to  send  him  a  translation  of  the  passage  in  question. 
A  second  letter,  in  the  following  year,  speaks  of  the  publishing  of  his 
translation  of  Euripides.  '  My  daughter  sent  me  word  that  she  left 
my  rude  copy  of  the  Bacchae  at  your  house;  I  do  not  apprehend  that  it 
can  afford  you  any  scene  for  a  picture.  I  am  now  at  work  upon  the 
Iphigenia  at  Aulis,  which  I  hope  to  finish  before  I  come  to  town  :  if 
you  wish  to  have  the  scene  of  her  sacrifice,  I  will  bring  it  with  me,  and 
that  of  Polyxena,  which  is  very  fine.'  Romney  read  Dr.  Potter's 
translation  of  Aeschylus  with  the  greatest  delight,  and  was  much 
impressed  with  the  boldness  and  sublimity  of  the  poet's  subjects,  and 
their  suitability  for  heroic  painting. 

Another  acquaintance  who  tried  to  help  him  in  this  way  was  the 
translator  of  the  Lusiad,  William  Julius  Mickle,  the  Scottish  poet, 
who  thought,  not  knowing  that  Romney  had  already  attempted  it, 

1  Hayley  reprinted  these  Epistles  at  the  end  of  his  Life  of  Romney,  where  the  date  of  their 
first  publication  is  given  as  1788,  not  1778,  but  this  is  evidently  a  printer's  error. 

G.  R.-7  97 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


that  the  death  of  David  Rizzio  in  the  presence  of  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots,  would  be  an  excellent  subject  for  a  painter  '  who  could  blend 
the  tender  and  terrific.'  He  also  wrote  offering  a  version  of  the 
Apparition  seen  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  from  Vasco  da  Gama's 
ships,  as  described  by  Camoens,  and  suggested  a  second  subject  from 
the  Lusiad — the  crowning  of  the  skeleton  of  the  beautiful  Inez — to 
which  Lord  Hardwicke  had  already  called  Romney's  attention. 

About  this  time,  1779,  Romney,  whenever  a  sitter  failed  to  keep 
an  appointment,  was  busily  at  work  on  two  important  designs—'  The 
Ghost  of  Darius  '  and  '  Atossa's  Dream  ' — but  his  many  commissions 
allowed  him  no  opportunity  of  making  any  serious  attempt  to 
complete  them  as  pictures  while  the  first  fine  glow  of  his  imagination 
lasted. 

One  of  his  sitters  this  year,  1779,  was  the  lovely  Henrietta  Vernon, 
Countess  of  Warwick ;  and  Hayley,  to  use  his  own  words,  wrote  a 
flattering  poem  in  praise  of  the  picture,  '  with  a  view  of  gratifying  his 
friend  Romney,  by  obtaining  permission  to  have  a  mezzotint  taken 
from  his  exquisite  portrait  of  that  beautiful  lady,  a  request  that  for 
just  reasons  was  civilly  declined.'1  The  verses  are  printed  in  John 
Romney's  Life.  Romney  painted  her  again  some  years  later  with  her 
two  children. 

Hayley  mentions  several  works — '  offsprings  of  friendship  ' — by 
which  he  means  that  he  begged  them  as  gifts  from  the  painter,  which 
were  done  in  1780.  These  included  a  drawing  in  water-colours  of  his 
'  friends  at  Eartham,'2  a  small  portrait  of  himself  in  the  same  medium, 
and  a  design,  which  was  engraved  by  Bartolozzi,  to  accompany  an  ode 
written  by  Hayley  in  honour  of  Howard,  the  prison  philanthropist. 
Hayley  himself  was  much  pleased  with  this  ode,  which  he  read  to  his 
friends  whenever  opportunity  arose.  In  the  previous  December  he  was 
anxious  that  Dr.  Cotton,  the  physician,  and  an  acquaintance  of 
Howard's,  should  sit  to  Romney  for  his  portrait.  In  return  he  offered 
to  read  the  poem  to  him,  and  the  doctor  was  so  '  infinitely  pleased  with 
it '  that  he  consented  to  be  painted.  Hayley  writes  all  this  to  his  wife 
with  great  satisfaction,  adding  that  both  John  Thornton  and  Romney 
admire  it  exceedingly,  'so  your  Pindaric  humble  servant  is  of  course  in 
the  clouds'  Romney,  says  his  host,  had  a  great  desire  to  paint  a  series 
of  pictures  '  to  express  his  veneration  for  the  character  of  Howard,  and 

1  In  spite  of  this  refusal,  the  picture  was  engraved  by  John  Raphael  Smith,  and  published 
March  3rd,  1780. 

2  See  page  122. 

98 


THE  TRIUMPHS   OF  TEMPER 


to  display  the  variety  of  relief,  that  his  signal  benevolence  afforded 
to  the  sufferings  of  the  wretched.'  Howard,  however,  resisted  all 
attempts  made  by  Hayley  to  induce  him  to  sit  for  his  portrait,  but  he 
suggested  several  incidents  of  human  misery,  seen  during  his  visitations 
to  foreign  prisons,  which  he  thought  might  be  suited  to  the  artist's 
pencil.  Romney  made  a  number  of  hasty  studies  with  the  intention  of 
painting  one  or  two  large  pictures  from  them ;  nine  of  these  sketches 
are  in  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum,  Cambridge,  and  there  are  a  number  of 
others  in  a  sketch-book  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Lawrence  Romney. 

During  Romney's  autumn  visit  to  Eartham  in  this  year,  1780,  Hayley 
was  busily  engaged  upon  his  poem,  The  Triumphs  of  Temper,  the  most 
successful  of  all  his  writings.  '  His  observation  of  the  various  effects 
of  spleen  on  the  female  character,'  he  explains  somewhat  pompously  in 
his  own  Memoirs,  '  induced  him  to  believe  that  he  might  render  an 
important  service  to  social  life,  if  his  poetry  could  induce  his  young  and 
fair  readers  to  cultivate  the  gentle  qualities  of  the  heart,  and  maintain 
a  constant  flow  of  good  humour.'  It  was  written  with  great  speed, 
three  cantos  being  finished  in  September.  The  presence  of  his  now 
bosom  friend  Romney  stimulated  him  to  great  exertions,  and  he  was 
also  helped  by  watching  '  the  progress  of  rising  affection  between  a 
couple  of  his  friends,  whom  the  artist  painted,  into  a  connubial  attach- 
ment.' He  finished  the  poem  in  London  before  the  end  of  the  year,  in 
Spring  Gardens,  where  Mr.  Edmund  Antrobus  had  lent  him  his  house 
for  a  month.  The  book,  when  published,  had  an  instantaneous  success, 
and  many  of  the  sentimental  young  ladies  of  the  day  modelled  their 
behaviour  upon  that  of  its  heroine  Serena.  Every  one  in  society  felt 
obliged  to  read  it,  and  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire,  to  whom  Hayley  dedi- 
cated a  volume  of  plays  in  1784,  is  said  by  Gibbon  to  have  been,  by  her 
enthusiasm,  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  book's  popularity.  Romney's 
various  pictures  of  '  Serena  '  will  be  described  later  on.  The  date  of 
them  is  usually  given  as  some  years  later  than  1780,  but  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  one  of  them  at  least  was  begun,  if  not  finished,  at  the 
time  when  the  poet  was  at  work  by  his  side,  reading  aloud  the  result  of 
each  day's  labour.  It  was  just  the  stimulus  in  which  Romney  most 
delighted,  and  his  sitter  may  perhaps  have  been  the  lady — unfortunately 
unnamed  by  Hayley — whose  love  affairs  the  two  older  men  had  been 
watching  with  such  interest. 

In  January  1781,  Lord  Chancellor  Thurlow  first  sat  to  Romney,  at 
the  request  of  Lord  Gower.  The  artist's  portraits  had  now  become  so 
popular,  that  the  new  sitter  merely  voiced  the  public  opinion  when  he 

99 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


exclaimed,  '  Reynolds  and  Romney  divide  the  town :  I  am  of  the 
Romney  faction ! '  This,  according  to  Hayley,  was  a  sally  of  sportive 
vivacity,  and  not  a  declaration  of  serious  preference.  Lord  Thurlow 
had  already  sat  to  Reynolds,  and,  as  a  man  of  taste,  must  have 
appreciated  the  President's  performance ;  but  he  had  a  real  personal 
liking  for  Romney,  the  man,  as  well  as  for  his  painting,  and  when  he 
had  once  overcome  the  latter's  nervous  shyness,  he  enjoyed  discussions 
with  him  upon  questions  of  art,  and  the  suitability  of  fine  passages  from 
the  great  poets  as  subjects  for  an  artist's  brush. 

C.  R.  Leslie,  in  his  Handbook  for  Young  Painters,  suggests  a 
reason  for  the  Lord  Chancellor's  preference : — 

'  In  Romney 's  whole-length  the  Chancellor  appeared  a  more  hand- 
some man  than  in  the  half-length  of  Reynolds.  Romney  avoided  all 
indication  of  the  suppressed  temper  that  was  so  apt  to  explode  in 
violent  paroxysms,  and  this  rendered  his  picture  more  acceptable  to  the 
original.  But  he  missed  what  Reynolds  alone  could  give — that  extra- 
ordinary sapience  which  made  Charles  Fox  say,  "  No  man  could  be  so 
wise  as  Lord  Thurlow  looked."'1 

The  Chancellor  had  suggested  to  Reynolds,  when  sitting  to  him, 
that  the  story  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  as  told  by  Virgil,  would  make 
an  excellent  subject  for  a  picture,  but  Sir  Joshua  did  not  fall  in  with 
the  idea,  and  from  that  time  the  Chancellor  is  said  to  have  thought  less 
of  his  genius.  He  now  expressed  a  strong  desire  that  Romney  should 
paint  for  him  a  work  from  the  same  source,  and  translated  the  whole 
episode  for  his  use.  Romney's  imagination  was  at  once  fired,  and 
he  made  a  number  of  designs,  in  most  of  which  Orpheus  was  re- 
presented with  arms  extended  in  the  attempt  to  embrace  Eurydice  at 
the  moment  she  is  snatched  from  him.  Three  of  these  sketches  are  in 
the  Fitzwilliam  Museum  in  Cambridge,  and  three  fine  cartoons  in  the 
Liverpool  Royal  Institution.2  He  began  the  picture  itself,  but  the 
Chancellor's  conception  of  the  way  in  which  the  legend  should  be 
treated  on  canvas  was  so  diametrically  opposed  to  the  painter's  own 
version  of  it,  that  Romney,  fearing  the  result  would  never  satisfy  his 
patron,  soon  relinquished  the  project  altogether ;  and,  in  the  end,  it 
was  destroyed,  with  many  another  unfinished  canvas,  by  damp  and 
neglect,  in  the  house  he  built  for  himself  at  Hampstead  towards  the 
end  of  his  life.    Lord  Thurlow,  however,  purchased  from  him  one  of 

1  Romney's  portrait  of  Lord  Thurlow  is  now  in  Stafford  House^  and  is  reproduced  in  Lord 
Ronald  Sutherland  Gower's  Life  of  the  artist. 

2  See  page  358. 

100 


PORTRAITS   OF  EMILY  BERTIE 


the  versions  of  •  Serena,'  and  commissioned  him  to  paint  the  portraits 
of  his  two  small  daughters,  the  beautiful  group  now  in  the  Byers 
Collection  in  America. 

In  speaking  of  Lord  Thurlow's  desire  to  possess  the  'Orpheus' 
picture,  and  his  failure  to  induce  either  Reynolds  or  Romney  to  under- 
take it  in  the  manner  in  which  he  wished,  John  Romney  again  takes 
up  the  cudgels  in  defence  of  his  father  against  Sir  Joshua.  '  I  main- 
tain,' he  declares,  '  and  am  not  afraid  of  avowing  it,  because  I  feel  I  am 
right, — that  Mr.  Romney,  when  in  the  meridian  of  his  powers,  was 
capable  of  painting  a  picture  of  higher  excellence  than  Reynolds.  .  .  . 
Mr.  Romney  s  narrow  circumstances,  however,  constrained  him  to 
devote  the  best  hours  of  his  life  to  portrait-painting ;  so  that  he  had 
not  those  fine  opportunities  which  Reynolds  had,  who  soon  became 
affluent,  of  directing  his  studies  to  works  of  imagination ;  yet  still  he 
did  enough  to  establish  his  character  as  an  historical  painter  of  the  first 
rank.'  This  is  mere  filial  exaggeration.  Romney  had  opportunity 
enough  for  historical  painting,  if  he  could  have  concentrated  his 
energies  upon  one  such  picture  at  a  time,  but  as  each  new  idea  sprang 
into  life  in  his  brain,  he  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  lay  aside 
the  work  then  in  hand  to  be  finished  later  on,  while  he  busied  himself 
with  the  fresher  vision  his  imagination  had  conjured  up. 

In  1781  he  painted  a  '  three-quarters  '  portrait  of  the  beautiful  Emily 
Bertie,  the  mistress  of  a  Mr.  Pott,  who  took  her  with  him  to  India, 
where  they  both  died.  He  also  began  a  full-length  of  her  in  a  recumbent 
position,  which  was  never  finished,  afterwards  cutting  out  the  head, 
which  he  gave  to  his  pupil,  Isaac  Pocock.  Sir  Joshua's  picture  of 
'  Thais  '  also  represented  this  lady.  In  the  same  year  Romney  painted 
the  portrait  of  Dr.  Beilby  Porteus,  Bishop  of  Chester. 


101 


XII 


THIS  is  not  the  place  in  which  to  give  at  any  great  length  an 
account  of  the  life  and  adventures  of  the  lovely,  fascinating 
and  unhappy  Lady  Hamilton,  who,  in  1782,  first  came 
into  Romney's  life,  a  vision  of  vivacious  youth  and  beauty,  at  a  time 
when  he  had  reached  the  high-water  mark  of  his  capabilities  as  a  painter, 
and  inspired  him  with  an  increased  ardour  for  the  pursuit  of  the  art  to 
which  he  had  given  up  almost  everything  that  makes  for  happiness  in 
ordinary  lives.  His  '  divine  lady '  as  lie  grew  to  call  her,  was  only  a 
passing  episode  in  his  life,  but  the  impression  that  she  left  on  him  was 
deep  and  lasting.  For  the  better  part  of  four  years  she  was  a  frequent 
visitor  to  his  painting-room,  until  she  left  England  for  Naples  ;  but, 
from  that  day,  Romney  only  saw  her  for  a  short  period  some  seven 
years  later,  when  she  returned  home  for  the  purpose  of  marrying  Sir 
William  Hamilton,  and,  for  a  month  or  two,  renewed  the  fire  in  the 
artist's  breast.  Bursting  upon  him  in  all  her  young  and  entrancing 
loveliness  of  person  and  gaiety  of  spirits,  she  at  once  became  his  ideal 
of  womanly  beauty,  and  the  model  from  whom  he  most  delighted  to 
paint. 

She  is  thus  described  by  one  who  has  made  a  study  of  her  life  : — '  The 
owner  of  two  lovely  blue  eyes,  one  of  which  was  remarkable  for  a  brown 
spot  that,  instead  of  showing  like  a  defect,  gave  additional  piquancy  to 
her  glances,  this  girlish  creature  was  fortunate  in  the  delicate  dignity 
of  her  profile,  the  ineffable  tenderness  of  what  Gavin  Hamilton  styled 
her  "  beautiful  and  uncommon  mouth,"  and  the  exuberance  of  her  rich 
auburn  tresses — deep  brown,  toned  with  scarcely  perceptible  redness — 
that  on  being  unlooped  fell  from  her  head  literally  to  her  heels.  These 
were  only  some  of  the  elements  of  her  historic  beauty.  Her  smiles 
were  poetry,  and  their  effect  on  those  who  regarded  her,  when  she  was 
talking  to  her  companions  with  her  usual  frankness  and  animation,  was 
heightened  by  the  qualities  of  a  voice  that  could  plead  in  the  softest 
of  persuasive  accents,  though  musical  connoisseurs  spoke  most  often  of 
its  strength  and  melodious  richness.  Whilst  recognising  the  peculiar 
102 


LADY   HAMILTON'S   EARLY  DAYS 


charms  of  her  "  beautiful  and  unusual  "  mouth,  most  admirers  of  this 
lovely  girl  spoke  with  lively  enthusiasm  of  the  air  of  serene  and  virginal 
goodness  that  clothed  her  countenance  in  its  peaceful  moments.  This 
air,  so  expressive  of  girlish  simplicity  and  innocence,  accorded  with  her 
nature,  but  was,  alas  !  at  painful  discord  with  one  already  remote 
passage  of  her  earlier  story.  To  regard  her,  in  ignorance  of  the 
lamentable  circumstances  of  her  career,  was  to  recall  the  lines  : 

"  O  welcome,  pure-eyed  faith,  white-handed  hope, 
Thou  hovering  angel,  girt  with  golden  wings, 
And  thou  unblemish'd  form  of  chastity  !  " 

But  to  remember  the  saddest  incidents  of  her  life  was  to  recall  a  story 
which  had  often  caused  women  to  turn  from  her  with  signs  of  abhor- 
rence, and  even  to  this  hour  exposes  her  apologists  to  odious  im- 
putations." 1 

J.  T.  Smith,  who  met  her  when  he  was  a  youth,  says,  in  his  enter- 
taining volume,  A  Book  for  a  Rainy  Day, — '  This  generous  woman, 
better  known  under  the  lawful  title  of  Lady  Hamilton,  when  I  showed 
her  my  etching  of  the  funeral  procession  of  her  husband's  friend,  the 
immortal  Nelson,  fainted  and  fell  into  my  arms  ;  and,  believe  me, 
reader,  her  mouth  was  equal  to  any  production  of  Greek  sculpture  I 
have  yet  seen.? 

Amy  Lyon,  or  Emma  Hart,  as  she  afterwards  called  herself,  was 
the  daughter  of  a  blacksmith,  one  Henry  Lyon,  of  the  hamlet  of 
Denhall  in  the  parish  of  Great  Neston,  Cheshire.  The  date  of  her 
birth  was  almost  certainly  April  26th,  1765,  and  she  was  baptized  about 
a  fortnight  later,  on  May  12th,  a  few  weeks  before  the  death  of  her 
father.2  Her  mother,  on  becoming  a  widow,  crossed  the  river  Dee, 
and  took  up  her  residence  among  her  own  people  in  her  native  parish 
of  Ha  warden.  Amy's  parentage  was  thus  decent  though  humble,  and 
a  degree  above  the  lowest  class  of  peasantry.  At  about  the  age  of 
thirteen  she  entered  the  service  of  Mr.  Thomas  of  Hawarden,  a 
brother-in-law  of  Alderman  Boydell,  as  nursery-maid.  In  her  sixteenth 
year  she  went  to  London,  and  shortly  afterwards  was  employed  in  the 
household  of  Dr.  Budd,  a  well-known  surgeon,  of  Chatham  Place, 
Blackfriars.  She  was  already  of  unusual  beauty,  and  her  vanity  was  fed 
by  the  admiration  it  caused,  wherever  she  went ;  and  it  was  this, 
undoubtedly,  which  caused  her  undoing.    Instead  of  settling  down  to 

1  J.  Cordy  Jeaffreson,  The  Queen  of  Naples  and  Lord  Xelson,  vol.  i.  p.  147. 

2  Walter  Sichel,  Emma,  Lady  Hamilton,  1905,  p.  39. -j 

103 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


quiet  service  under  the  roof  of  the  worthy  doctor,  she  became  restless 
and  left.  '  Changing  her  places,  and  staying  long  in  no  one  of  them,' 
says  Mr.  JeafFreson,  '  she  ripened  quickly  for  ruin.'  For  some  time  her 
movements  are  uncertain,  and  difficult  to  trace  in  proper  order.  She 
is  said  to  have  served  in  a  shop  as  waitress  for  a  month  or  two,  from 
which  she  was  tempted  by  a  '  lady  of  fashion '  to  act  as  her  companion, 
and  to  be  introduced  to  society,  of  a  sort,  as  a  young  gentlewoman, 
whereby  her  vanity  was  still  further  fed.  It  is  also  supposed  that  she 
acted  as  servant  to  Mrs.  Lindley  of  Drury  Lane  Theatre  for  a  short 
period.  There  is,  however,  no  certainty,  and  probably  very  little  truth 
about  these  rumours.  She  seems  to  have  been  miserably  poor,  and  to 
have  found  it  difficult  to  gain  a  livelihood.  In  any  case,  she  fell  a 
victim  to  a  young  naval  officer,  to  whom  she  went,  so  the  story  runs, 
to  plead  for  the  release  of  a  friend  who  had  been  captured  by  the 
press-gang.  This  was  Captain,  afterwards  Rear-Admiral  John  Willet- 
Payne. 

'  The  brief  liaison  ended  before  the  simpleton  was  a  mother.  It  was 
a  seaman's  last  frolic  on  shore,  before  he  went  off  to  serve  his  country 
on  the  deep.  A  few  months  later,  Amy  Lyon  was  clothed  with  shame, 
and  was  weeping  over  the  infant,  to  which  she  had  given  birth,  when 
she  can  scarcely  have  completed  her  seventeenth  year.'  The  child  was 
sent  to  Hawarden,  and  the  girl  then  entered  upon  the  darkest  moments 
of  her  chequered  life. 

Unable  to  obtain  a  place  in  any  respectable  household,  she  is  said  to 
have  drifted  into  the  employment  of  that  notorious  quack,  Dr.  Graham, 
whose  '  Temple  of  Aesculapius '  was  removed  from  the  Adelphi  to 
Schomberg  House,  Pall  Mall,  in  1781,  where  he  became  Gainsborough's 
neighbour.  It  must  have  been  at  the  former  place,  if  at  all,  that  Emma 
was  exhibited  as  '  Hygeia,  the  rosy  goddess  of  Health,'  to  the  rank  and 
fashion  of  London,  who  flocked  to  his  lectures  and  seances.  Here,  again, 
there  is  no  real  proof  that  she  was  so  employed,  and  still  less  that  she 
displayed  her  charms  as  recklessly  as  the  scandalous  chronicles  relate. 
She  may  have  posed  as  a  draped  statue  of  Hygeia ;  but  Graham's 
later  attraction,  'Hebe  Vestina,'  was  not  included  in  his  programme 
until  the  year  after  he  had  removed  to  Pall  Mall,  in  1782,  when 
Emma's  presence  elsewhere  is  well  authenticated.  In  1783  Graham 
was  in  Edinburgh,  and  was  committed  to  the  Tolbooth,  and  his  exhi- 
bition seems  to  have  come  to  a  final  close  in  the  following  year. 

In  the  introduction  to  the  catalogue  of  the  Romney  Exhibition, 
held  in  the  Grafton  Gallery  in  1900,  this  legend  is  repeated  with 
104 


PLATE  XXI 


PLA  T E  XXII 


FLAXMAN  MODELLING  THE  BUST  OF  HAYLEY 

IN  THE  NATIONAL  PORTRAIT  GALLERY 

Pages  20J,  332 


DRAWINGS   OF  LADY  HAMILTON 


emphasis.  '  The  fact  of  Emma's  connection  with  this  exhibition  stands 
uncontradicted  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  supported  by  the  testimony  of 
Cosway,  Tresham,  and  Hone,  and  the  lovely  drawings  they  made  from 
her  person.  Flaxman  is  also  allowed  to  have  perpetuated  her  lovely 
figure  in  marble.  Where  is  it  now  ?  The  drawing  attributed  to 
Romney  by  the  owner,  (here  exhibited),  whoever  it  may  be  by,  is  a 
veritable  masterpiece,  and  the  admiration  of  the  medical  profession, 
from  the  knowledge  of  anatomy  it  reveals.' 

The  drawing  in  question,  No.  90,  was  lent  by  Sir  John  G.  Tolle- 
mache  Sinclair,  Bart.,  and  was  said  in  a  note  to  be  '  attested  by  manu- 
script in  the  autograph  of  an  eminent  artist,  living  at  the  time  of  the 
exhibition  (Graham's),  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Nash,  annotator  of 
this  catalogue.'  It  was  a  pity  that  this  manuscript  was  not  printed,  and 
the  name  of  the  eminent  artist  given.  In  its  absence  the  note  can 
hardly  be  accepted  as  proof  that  Romney  ever  made  a  nude  study  of 
Lady  Hamilton.  The  drawing  itself  is  a  careful  and  conscientious 
study  of  a  rather  plump  and  matronly  woman,  and  might  have  been 
made  by  Romney,  though  most  probably  it  is  not  by  him;  in  any  case, 
if  done  at  the  date  suggested,  about  1782,  it  could  not  have  been  a 
study  from  the  slim  and  youthful  Emma.1  Romney,  with  all  his  fine 
qualities,  never  produced  a  drawing  from  the  nude  which  displayed  a 
masterly  knowledge  of  anatomy ;  it  was  just  this  want  of  a  perfect 
acquaintance  with  the  mechanism  of  the  human  form  which  was  the 
weakest  point  in  his  artistic  armour.  Certainly  the  few  studies  from 
the  nude,  preserved  in  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum,  Cambridge,  are  not  of 
a  kind  to  win  the  complete  '  admiration  of  the  medical  profession.'  No 
references  were  given  in  the  catalogue  to  the  testimony  of  Cosway, 
Tresham,  and  Hone,  or  information  as  to  where  the  '  lovely  drawings  ' 
they  made  from  her  undraped  person  are  to  be  seen,  and  in  the  absence 
of  such  information  the  whole  story  must  be  regarded  as  a  myth. 
Henry  Tresham  was  in  Italy  from  1775  to  1789,  so  that  he,  in  any 
case,  can  have  made  no  such  drawings. 

Either  before  or  after  this  Graham  episode,  if  it  ever  occurred, 
which,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  is  doubtful, — during  which  time 
Romney  may  have  seen  her,  as  the  artists  were  in  the  habit  of  visiting 
his  somewhat  scandalous  exhibition,  with  its  mud  baths  and  '  Celestial 
Bed,' — she  lived  for  a  time  with  Sir  Harry  Fetherstonehaugh,  both  in 
London  and  at  his  country  seat  of  Up  Park,  in  Sussex.  Sir  Harry 
may  or  may  not  have  met  her  for  the  first  time  at  Graham's,  and  have 

1  If  by  Romney,  it  is  much  more  likely  to  be  one  of  the  studies  he  made  in  Rome.    See  page  69. 

105 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


taken  her  away  from  there.  These  were  her  days  of  wildest  gaiety, 
when  she  already  gave  signs  of  that  skill  in  mimicry  for  which  she 
afterwards  became  famous,  and  '  delighted  the  baronet's  friends  with 
her  vivacious  temper,  her  racy  prattle,  and  her  equestrian  address,' 
which  attracted  such  outspoken  admiration  from  some  of  the  visitors 
to  Up  Park  that  in  December  1781  Sir  Harry,  probably  with  due 
cause,  packed  her  off  very  hurriedly  to  Hawarden,  with  next  to 
nothing  in  her  pocket,  just  as  she  was  on  the  point  of  becoming  a 
mother.  Her  behaviour,  however,  cannot  have  been  very  outrageous, 
as  later  in  life,  after  Nelson  s  death,  when  her  friends  were  few,  Sir 
Harry  was  in  the  habit  of  sending  her  presents  of  fruit,  flowers,  and 
game,  and  of  writing  letters  to  her  couched  in  friendly  terms,  with  the 
object  of  cheering  her  in  her  retirement.  It  is  not  true  that,  after 
leaving  Up  Park,  she  was  compelled  for  a  living  to  display  her  charms 
to  painters,  as  Allan  Cunningham  alleged,  in  order  that  they  might  be 
the  better  able  to  put  art  to  vile  uses  ;  nor  did  she  ever  stand  as  a  nude 
model  to  students  at  the  Royal  Academy.  She  hastened  to  Hawarden, 
in  disgrace  and  despair,  only  anxious  to  hide  her  shame  from  the  world. 

Repeated  applications  for  help  sent  from  Hawarden  to  Sir  Harry 
had  no  effect,  and  the  despairing  girl  turned  in  her  distress  to  one  who 
had  no  doubt  admired  her,  and  had  probably  made  love  to  her,  at  Up 
Park.  This  was  Charles  Greville,  to  whom  she  wrote :  '  I  am 
allmost  distracktid.  I  have  never  hard  from  Sir  H.  and  he  is  not 
at  Lechster  now,  I  am  sure.  I  have  wrote  7  letters,  and  no  anser. 
What  shall  I  dow  ?  Good  God  what  shall  I  dow  ?  .  .  .  I  can't  come 
to  town  for  want  of  mony.  I  have  not  a  farthing  to  bless  my  self 
with,  and  1  think  my  friends  looks  cooly  on  me.  I  think  so.  O  G. 
what  shall  I  dow  ?  What  shall  I  dow  ?  O  how  your  letter  affected 
me  when  you  wished  me  happiness.  O  G.  that  I  was  in  your  posesion 
or  in  Sir  H.,  what  a  happy  girl  would  I  have  been !  Girl  indeed  ! 
What  else  am  I  but  a  girl  in  distres — in  reall  distres  ?  For  God  s 
sake,  G.  write  the  minet  you  get  this,  and  only  tell  me  what  I  am  to 
dow  ?  ...  I  am  allmos  mad.  O  for  God's  sake  tell  me  what  is  to 
become  on  me.  O  dear  Grevell,  write  to  me.  Write  to  me.  G.  adue, 
and  believe  yours  for  ever,  Emly  Hart.' 

No  doubt  the  good  people  of  Hawarden  looked  upon  her  with  far 
from  friendly  eyes,  but,  happily,  Greville  answered  her  appeal  and 
came  to  her  assistance.  Charles  Francis  Greville  was  the  second  son 
of  the  first  Earl  of  Warwick  and  brother  of  the  second  Earl,  who 
became,  thanks  to  the  introduction  of  Richard  Cumberland,  a  good 
10G 


CHARLES  GREVILLE  AND  LADY  HAMILTON 


friend  and  patron  to  George  Roniney.  Greville  was  a  young  man  of 
some  character,  cautious  and  even  pedantic  in  nature,  and  though 
moving  in  the  highest  ranks  of  society  and  indulging  to  a  moderate 
extent  in  those  free  habits  of  living  which  were  almost  universal  when 
George  iv.  was  Prince  of  Wales,  his  life  was  yet  a  sober  and  reputable 
one  as  compared  with  those  of  most  of  the  young  men  about  town  of 
his  day.  His  income,  five  hundred  pounds  a  year,  small  even  for  a 
second  son,  was  hardly  sufficient  to  keep  up  his  position  as  a  member 
of  Parliament,  and  to  enable  him  to  support  his  reputation  as  a  con- 
noisseur of  art.  He  was  already  deeply  in  debt,  and  the  addition  of 
Emma  Hart — as  she  now  called  herself — to  his  household  still  further 
hampered  him. 

His  friend  Lady  Craven,  afterwards  Margravine  of  Anspach,  sings 
his  praises  in  her  entertaining  memoirs.  '  Sir  William  Hamilton's 
nephew,  Mr.  Charles  Greville,  next  brother  to  the  Earl  of  W arwick, 
possessed,  like  his  uncle,  a  superior  mind,  with  an  elegant  taste  for  the 
fine  arts,  but  which  he  had  indulged  too  much  for  the  narrow  limits  of 
his  fortune.  He  was  so  much  admired  by  the  King,  that  when  he  went 
to  lay  down  his  office  of  Treasurer  of  the  Household  (a  place  which 
was  personally  in  the  gift  of  his  Majesty  unconnected  by  the  ministry), 
the  King  himself  kindly  urged  him  not  to  take  so  unnecessary  a 
measure,— nor  would  his  Majesty  accept  his  resignation  but  with  the 
greatest  discussion.  His  high  sense  of  honour  was  so  great,  that, 
although  his  friends  added  their  persuasions  to  those  of  the  King,  he 
could  not  be  induced  to  retain  a  place,  when  his  sentiments  no  longer 
coincided  with  his  duty.  He  withdrew  immediately  into  private  life; 
and  in  consequence  of  his  retirement,  many  of  his  leisure  hours  were 
bestowed  upon  me.' 

The  four  years  during  which  Emma  Hart  associated  with  him,  in 
a  small  house  in  Edgware  Row,  near  Paddington  Green,  were  of 
undoubted  benefit  to  her.  He  had  saved  her  from  imminent  ruin,  and 
she  was  proportionately  grateful  to  him.  She  accepted  all  the  restric- 
tions he  imposed  upon  her,  as  to  seemliness  of  behaviour,  loyalty  to 
himself,  and  the  many  niceties  of  conduct  which  his  fastidiousness 
demanded.  She  gladly  carried  out  his  wishes,  and  in  so  doing  regained 
something  of  her  self-respect.  At  their  home  she  met  a  very  different 
society  from  that  of  Up  Park — only  Greville's  closest  friends  having 
admittance — men  of  character,  who  always  treated  her  with  the  respect 
due  to  a  gentlewoman.  '  The  Edgware  Row  establishment  was 
modest  in  both  senses  of  the  word.    He  brought  reputable  friends  to 

107 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


the  house,  and  a  few  neighbouring  ladies  seem  to  have  called.  The 
household  expenses  did  not  exceed  some  £100  a  year.  Emma's  own 
yearly  allowance  was  only  about  £30,  and  she  lived  well  within  it.' 1 

Out  of  his  meagre  income  he  did  all  that  he  could  to  educate  her, 
and  to  bring  out  her  best  qualities,  providing  her  with  a  piano,  and 
singing  and  music  masters,  and  endeavouring  to  share  with  her  his 
enthusiasm  for  the  fine  arts.  She,  in  return,  became  greatly  attached, 
and  in  the  end,  deeply  in  love  with  him.  He  undertook  the  main- 
tenance of  her  child,  '  little  Emma,'  while  her  mother  was  allowed  to 
come  to  live  with  her  under  the  name  of  Mrs.  Cadogan.  Greville,  on 
his  side,  was  of  a  jealous  disposition,  and  she  herself  told  Romney  that 
on  one  occasion  he  was  so  irritated  by  the  attention  she  attracted  at 
Ranelagh  that  she  never  afterwards  accompanied  him  to  any  public 
place  of  entertainment,  and  put  aside  all  fashionable  costume,  wearing 
mostly  the  dress  of  a  lady's  maid  for  the  remainder  of  the  time  she 
lived  with  him. 

Early  in  1782  Greville  brought  this  radiant  creature  to  Romney  s 
studio  to  sit  for  her  portrait.  She  captivated  the  artist  at  once,  for  he 
saw  in  her  the  personification  of  his  highest  ideal  of  human  loveliness, 
and  could  not  help  falling  before  her  fascinating  manners  and  engaging 
ways.  His  artistic  soul  was  at  once  fired  with  enthusiasm,  and  it  soon 
became  his  one  ambition  to  portray  her  in  every  attitude  and  character 
that  his  vivid  imagination  could  conjure  up.  She,  in  her  turn,  was 
glad  to  come  to  his  studio,  and  to  serve  as  his  model — always  in  com- 
pany with  her  mother,  says  punctilious  John  Romney.  No  doubt  time 
would  hang  a  little  heavily  on  her  hands  in  the  small  house  in  Edg- 
ware  Row,  when  Greville  was  absent  upon  his  duties  at  the  Board  of 
Admiralty  or  his  pleasures,  and  the  painting-room  made  an  agreeable 
break  in  the  monotony  of  her  days.  Her  vanity  was  excited  both  by 
his  evident  delight  in  painting  her,  and  by  seeing  her  charms  displayed 
upon  innumerable  canvases  by  the  brush  of  one  of  the  three  leading 
painters  of  the  day.  Romney  s  natural  reserve  fell  away  in  her 
presence,  and  they  soon  became  fast  friends. 

The  two  had  much  in  common.  They  came  from  neighbouring 
provinces,  and  both  sprang  from  a  sturdy  yeoman  race.  It  is  said  that 
both  spoke  with  something  of  the  same  twang,  and  that  in  speech  and 
handwriting  there  was  great  similarity  between  them,  though  Romney, 
of  course,  lacked  her  fluency  of  phrase,  and  only  expressed  himself 
with  perfect  ease  through  his  brush.    Her  vivacity  and  gaiety,  and  the 

1  W.  Sichel,  p.  57. 

10S 


LADY   HAMILTON   AND  ROMNEY 


unschooled  exuberance  of  her  spirits,  drew  him  out  of  himself,  and 
roused  him,  for  the  time,  from  his  shy,  silent,  and  dejected  moods.  She 
had,  indeed,  the  power  of  fascinating  all  men,  and  most  women,  over 
whom  she  wished  to  cast  her  spells,  and  Romney,  reserved  as  he  was,  was 
no  exception  to  the  rule.  She  looked  upon  him  as  a  fellow-exile  from 
the  North,  and  treated  him  as  a  close  and  dear  friend,  pouring  into  his 
willing  ears  her  troubles  and  her  ambitions  with  a  frankness  due  to  her 
knowledge  of  his  complete  sympathy  and  understanding.  To  him  she 
'  first  opened  her  heart,'  as  she  told  him  in  a  letter  from  Italy  some  ten 
years  later. 

Irrespective  of  her  wonderful  beauty,  she  must  have  been  one  of 
the  finest  models  who  ever  sat  to  painter.  Graceful  in  every  move- 
ment, she  possessed  the  power  of  adapting  herself  with  ease  to  any  pose 
the  painter  demanded  of  her,  and  the  extraordinary  mobility  of  her 
features  permitted  her  to  assume  any  character,  at  a  moment's  notice. 
Gifted  with  an  imagination,  she  could,  in  turn,  personify  all  passions 
and  emotions.  This  power  was  largely  increased  under  Romney  s 
constant  suggestion,  and  it  was  in  his  studio  that  she  first  began  to 
perfect  herself  in  those  '  Attitudes'  which  afterwards  became  so  famous 
when  performed  by  her  in  the  drawing-rooms  of  society  both  in  London 
and  Naples. 

Romney  painted  her  in  a  great  variety  of  characters,  both  from 
tragedy  and  comedy,  and  from  classical  story  or  in  allegorical  guise. 
He  depicted  her  both  as  a  Bacchante  and  as  a  Nun,  as  Nature,  Simpli- 
city, Comedy,  Alope,  Ariadne,  Cassandra,  Joan  of  Arc,  Sensibility, 
Diana,  Euphrosyne,  a  Spinstress,  St.  Cecilia,  Contemplation,  and  many 
other  characters. 

Her  visits  to  the  painting-room  were  so  frequent,  and  the  artist's 
enthusiasm  so  great,  that  their  friendship  was  bound  to  attract  comment 
of  an  unflattering  nature.  In  days  when  evil  motives  were  imputed 
with  a  freedom  which,  happily,  has  become  more  restrained  in  modern 
times,  and  quite  undeterred  by  all  lack  of  real  evidence,  such  an  inti- 
macy was  not  likely  to  be  ignored  by  malicious  scandal-mongers.  The 
earlier  history  of  Emma  Hart,  as  far  as  it  was  known,  embellished  with 
fantastic  exaggerations,  was  sufficient  in  itself  to  set  tongues  wagging — 
and  when,  in  addition,  there  was  on  one  side  a  lady  of  such  ante- 
cedents, and  on  the  other  a  man  who  had  lived  away  from  his  own 
wife  for  more  than  twenty  years — the  case  was  already  proved  in  the 
eyes  of  London  society,  without  need  of  further  evidence. 

These  innuendoes  were  voiced  with  direct  brutality,  about  a  decade 

109 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


after  the  painter's  death  in  the  Memoirs  of  Lady  Hamilton,  which  had 
a  scandalous  success  when  published  in  1815.  In  them  the  anonymous 
author  declares  that  Romney's  '  propensities  to  sensual  indulgence  were 
well  known  to  all  his  acquaintance.'  This,  as  far  as  can  be  gathered 
from  all  ascertained  facts  of  his  life,  is  a  cruel  slander.  Everything 
that  is  known  about  him  tends  to  prove  that,  at  a  period  when  loose 
living  was  regarded  with  singular  leniency,  Romney  was  a  clean  liver 
in  every  sense  of  the  word,  and  was  only  intemperate  in  one  direction 
— his  devotion  to  his  art.  No  one  of  his  personal  friends  has  written  a 
single  sentence  about  him  which  points  to  the  slightest  irregularity  of 
conduct  on  his  part — the  one  great  blot  on  his  character,  his  desertion 
of  his  wife,  being  the  only  sin  of  this  description  that  can  be  urged 
against  him. 

On  the  other  hand,  some  of  his  biographers  and  certain  modern 
writers  go  to  the  opposite  extreme,  holding  that  the  tie  between  Lady 
Hamilton  and  Romney  was  merely  one  of  sincere  friendship,  and  that 
the  artist's  feelings  towards  his  sitter  were  those  of  an  affectionate 
father  to  a  daughter.  Such  an  explanation  seems  too  idealistic  to  be 
the  true  one,  when  all  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  the  characters  of  the 
two  actors,  are  considered. 

Romney's  feelings  for  the  fair  Emma  were,  no  doubt,  somewhat 
mixed  ones.  His  admiration  for  her  beauty,  which  excited  his  imagina- 
tion and  gave  an  added  fluency  to  his  brush  and  a  completer  sweetness 
to  his  colour,  was  great  from  the  beginning,  and  increased  as  the  years 
went  on,  for  he  felt  that  in  her  he  had  found  a  source  of  inspiration  by 
means  of  which  he  could  at  length  give  a  perfect  expression  to  the 
artistic  passion  which  burned  within  him.  But  his  regard  for  the 
woman  herself,  quite  irrespective  of  his  art,  grew  just  as  steadily,  and 
there  seems  little  question  that  he  gradually  became  deeply  attached 
to  her.  This  love  never  found  more  direct  expression  than  in  the 
many  canvases  upon  which  he  depicted  his  appreciation  of  her  outward 
charms  and  the  fascinating  variety  of  her  moods.  It  was,  indeed, 
largely  an  ideal  love.  He,  like  a  true  artist,  worshipped  her  beauty, 
and  there  was  little  that  was  sensual  in  his  feeling  for  her.  He  had  a 
passion  for  beauty  as  beauty,  but  was  a  man  of  pure  mind.  This  the 
quick-witted  Emma  soon  recognised,  and  by  reason  of  it  she  trusted 
him.  It  is  true  that  after  a  time  he  became  restless  and  unhappy 
whenever  she  missed  coming  to  the  studio,  and  that  any  fancied  cold- 
ness on  her  part  threw  him  into  a  fever  of  apprehension.  In  this, 
perhaps,  may  be  traced  the  man  predominating  over  the  artist ;  but 
110 


HER  DEVOTION  TO  GREVILLE 


however  deep  the  feeling  may  have  been  it  never  found  expression  in 
words  except  in  a  few  agitated  notes  to  Hay  ley,  in  which  he  reveals, 
quite  unconsciously,  an  admiration,  and  a  despair,  which,  in  most  cases 
of  a  like  nature,  would  be  regarded  as  the  characteristics  of  a  lover. 
To  Emma  herself  he  never  gave  expression  to  this  feeling. 

Emma,  who  owed  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  to  Greville,  was  at  this 
time  sincerely  devoted  to  him,  anxious  to  please  him  in  every  way,  and 
careful  of  her  conduct  in  that  nothing  she  did  should  wound  his  some- 
what precise  and  circumspect  nature.  It  has  been  pointed  out  already 
that  he  was  of  a  jealous  disposition,  and  was  very  strongly  attached  to 
her,  and  he  would  have  forbidden  her  visits  to  the  studio  upon  the 
slightest  suspicion  of  a  too  ardent  regard  between  the  painter  and  his 
mistress.  Emma's  own  feelings  are  not  likely  to  have  been  warmer 
than  those  of  ordinary  friendship,  and  she  was  possibly  quite  sincere 
when  she  spoke  of  Romney  as  her  '  more  than  father.'  It  gave  her  the 
liveliest  pleasure  to  sit  constantly  for  her  portrait,  more  especially  to  a 
painter  who  was  so  much  the  talk  of  the  town  ;  and  Romney 's  apprecia- 
tion of  her  quickness  in  seizing  his  ideas,  and  his  praise  of  the  graceful- 
ness of  her  posing  and  the  mobility  of  her  expression,  made  a  strong 
appeal  to  her  vanity.  Eager  for  admiration,  it  was  natural  that  she 
should  be  attracted  by  the  evident  enthusiasm  she  inspired  in  one  who 
was  as  a  rule  exceptionally  reserved  in  character.  Beyond  some  such 
feelings  as  these,  the  future  Lady  Hamilton  is  not  likely  to  have  gone 
in  her  intimacy  with  the  painter.  Her  letters  to  Greville  from  Italy  in 
1786,  during  the  early  days  of  her  residence  in  Naples,  show  that  he  was 
then  the  only  man  who  occupied  her  thoughts.  It  was  Romney  's  art 
that  had  brought  them  together,  and  beyond  this  there  was  little  on 
her  side  but  that  mutual  bond  of  sympathy  which  such  constant 
artistic  intercourse  would  produce.  Romney  was  a  man  of  fifty,  and 
in  appearance  and  manners  not  one  upon  whom  a  lively,  high-spirited 
girl  of  twenty,  accustomed  to  receive  attention  and  admiration  wher- 
ever she  went,  would  be  likely  to  look  with  favour  as  a  lover.  As  she 
grew  to  know  him  better,  and  to  get  behind  that  reserve  which  only 
his  few  intimate  friends  were  ever  privileged  to  see  completely  thrown 
aside,  she  must  have  learned  to  appreciate  the  man  himself,  as  well  as 
his  art ;  but  this  appreciation  went  no  further  than  friendship.  Romney, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  wounded  more  deeply.  Her  absence  in  Italy 
for  six  years  made  no  difference  to  the  depth  of  his  feelings,  or,  if  time 
had  a  little  dulled  them,  they  were  revived  with  all  their  old,  or  even 
greater  intensity,  when  she  returned  to  England  for  a  few  months  in  1791. 

Ill 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Hayley,  in  speaking  of  certain  of  Romney 's  ideal  pictures  for  which 
the  future  Lady  Hamilton  was  the  model,  says,  with  great  '  gusto,'  as 
he  himself  would  put  it: — 'In  executing  some  of  these,  he  had  the 
great  advantage  of  studying  the  features,  and  the  mental  character,  of 
a  lady,  on  whom  nature  had  lavished  such  singular  beauty,  and  such 
extraordinary  talents,  as  have  rendered  her  not  only  the  favorite 
model  of  Romney,  whom  she  honored  with  her  filial  tenderness,  and 
esteem,  but  the  idolized  wife  of  an  accomplished  ambassador.' 

'  The  high  and  constant  admiration,'  he  goes  on,  '  with  which 
Romney  contemplated  the  personal,  and  mental  endowments  of  this 
lady,  and  the  gratitude  he  felt  for  many  proofs  of  her  friendship,  will 
appear  in  passages  from  his  letters,  describing  some  memorable  inci- 
dents, when  their  recent  and  pleasing  impression  on  his  mind  and  heart 
gave  peculiar  vivacity  to  his  description.  The  talents,  which  nature 
bestowed  on  the  fair  Emma,  led  her  to  delight  in  the  two  kindred  arts 
of  Music,  and  Painting.  In  the  first  she  acquired  great  practical  ability ; 
for  the  second  she  had  exquisite  taste,  and  such  expressive  powers,  as 
could  furnish  to  an  historical  painter,  an  inspiring  model  for  the  various 
characters,  either  delicate,  or  sublime,  that  he  might  have  occasion  to 
represent.  Her  features,  like  the  language  of  Shakespeare,  could 
exhibit  all  the  feelings  of  nature,  and  all  the  gradations  of  every  passion, 
with  a  most  fascinating  truth,  and  felicity  of  expression.  Romney 
delighted  in  observing  the  wonderful  command  she  possessed  over  her 
eloquent  features,  and  thro'  the  surprising  vicissitudes  of  her  destiny 
she  ever  took  a  generous  pride  in  serving  him  as  a  model ;  her  peculiar 
force  and  variations  of  feeling,  countenance,  and  gesture,  inspirited  and 
ennobled  the  productions  of  his  art.' 

John  Romney,  though  mainly  occupied  in  defending  his  father 
against  the  imputations  which  were  cast  upon  him,  endeavours,  without 
the  enthusiasm  of  Hayley,  to  be  just  to  the  lady,  and,  in  sketching  her 
character  and  appearance,  speaks  of  the  prudence  and  discretion  of  her 
behaviour  during  the  four  years  she  was  under  the  protection  of  Charles 
Greville,  when  her  conduct  was  in  every  respect  correct,  and  very 
different  from  her  life  after  she  was  married  to  Sir  William  Hamilton. 
4  Far  be  it  from  me,  however,  to  become  her  apologist ;  but  as  I  know 
that  her  conduct  in  the  former  part  of  her  life  has  been  misrepresented, 
and  that  many  extravagant  stories  have  been  told  of  her,  implicating 
Mr.  Romney,  which  have  not  the  shadow  of  foundation  ;  it  is  no  more 
than  common  charity  and  justice  to  state  such  circumstances  as  will 
112 


EARLY  PORTRAITS   OF  LADY  HAMILTON 


place  her  character  in  its  true  light.  In  all  Mr.  Romney's  intercourse 
with  her  she  was  treated  with  the  utmost  respect,  and  her  demeanour 
fully  entitled  her  to  it.  In  the  characters  in  which  she  has  been 
represented,  she  only  sat  for  the  face  and  a  slight  sketch  of  the  attitude; 
and  the  drapery  was  painted  either  from  other  models,  or  from  the 
layman.  The  only  figure  that  displayed  any  licentiousness  of  dress, 
was  the  Bacchante;  and  it  was  as  modest  as  the  nature  of  the  character 
would  admit  of ;  but  in  this  she  only  sat  for  the  face.  There  is  no 
doubt  but  the  talent  of  representing  characters  by  action,  and  by  the 
expression  of  countenance,  which  she  afterwards  displayed  with  so 
much  success  when  Lady  Hamilton,  was  acquired  when  she  sat  to  Mr. 
Romney,  she  being  requested  to  imitate  those  powerful  emotions  of 
the  mind  which  he  wished  to  paint.  It  was  a  great  gratification  to  her, 
to  sit  as  a  model ;  it  amused  her,  and  flattered  her  vanity.  From  the 
peculiarity  of  her  situation  she  was  excluded  from  society,  justly 
excluded  ;  and  the  only  resources  she  had  for  amusement  in  her  loneli- 
ness, were  reading  and  music  at  home,  and  coming  once  or  twice  a 
week  to  sit  for  her  picture.  She  always  had  a  hackney  coach  to  bring 
and  take  her  away ;  and  she  never  appeared  in  the  streets  without 
her  mother.' 

The  first  picture  Romney  painted  of  her  was  the  beautiful  three- 
quarter  length,  in  which  she  is  represented  with  a  small  spaniel  under 
her  arm,  known  now  by  the  somewhat  absurd  title  of  '  Lady  Hamilton 
as  Nature'  (see  Plate  viii.).  This  picture  was  purchased  at  Sir 
William  Hamilton's  sale  by  Mr.  Lister  Parker,  and  is  now  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Charles  Wertheimer. 

The  full-length  portrait  of  her  in  the  character  of  '  Circe  '  was  begun 
at  about  the  same  time.  Hayley  mentions  a  letter  from  a  friend 
in  that  year  (1782),  describing  the  powerful  impression  it  made  upon  a 
party  of  people  who  went  to  see  it  in  the  studio.  It  remained  in  the 
painter's  possession  for  some  years,  when,  says  the  bard  of  Eartham, 
'  an  opulent  nobleman  discovered  a  faint  inclination  to  purchase  it,  but 
it  was  reserved  for  a  purchaser  of  superior  taste.'  The  picture  was 
never  finished,  because  Romney  found  it  impossible  at  the  time  to  find 
models  for  the  animals.  Afterwards  it  was  decided  that  Gilpin  was  to 
put  them  in,  but  for  some  reason  he  never  did  so.  Later  on,  William 
Long,  the  surgeon,  who  became  the  owner  of  the  work,  and,  as 
already  noted,  was  an  amateur  artist  of  more  pretension  than  capa- 
bility, endeavoured  to  supply  the  deficiency;  and,  in  more  recent  years, 
a  not  very  successful  attempt  has  been  made  to  remove  his  handiwork. 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


This  picture,  which  was  sold  at  Messrs.  Christie's  in  1890  for  3850 
guineas,  is  now  in  the  collection  of  the  Hon.  Herbert  C.  Gibbs. 

Miss  Seward  mentions  the  '  Circe '  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  F.  N.  C. 
Mundy,  on  October  10th,  1787,  on  the  subject  of  poetry,  in  which  she 
says : — '  Merely  to  jingle  common-place  ideas  in  rhyme,  may  be  easy 
enough ;  but  to  make  fine  sense,  animated  and  appropriate  descrip- 
tion, and  beautiful  imagery,  recline  gracefully  on  that  Procrustean 
bed,  is  about  as  easy  as  to  compose  music  like  Handel  or  Haydn,  and 
to  paint  like  Reynolds,  Romney,  and  Fuseli.  When  Mrs.  Knowles, 
who  knows  the  difficulties  and  the  merits  of  the  pencil,  saw  Romney 's 
Circe,  she  exclaimed,  "  What  a  number  of  bad,  indifferent,  moderate, 
good,  and  very  good  pictures  must  the  hand  paint,  ere  it  attains 
the  sublimity  of  that  figure!"'  This  lady  was  Dr.  Johnson's  '  fair 
Quakeress.' 

No  attempt  will  be  made  here  to  give  a  complete  list  of  the 
many  pictures  Romney  painted  from  his  '  divine  lady,'  and  the  still 
greater  number  of  studies  he  began,  often  from  memory,  but  never 
finished.  More  than  one  so-called  '  Portrait  of  Lady  Hamilton,'  in 
the  private  collections  of  England,  owes  its  present  title  entirely  to 
the  imagination  of  the  owner,  or  to  the  dealer  who  sold  it  to  him. 
The  whole  subject  is  confusing,  and  it  is  often  very  difficult  to  trace 
the  true  history  of  many  of  these  canvases.  John  Romney,  who 
would  not  attempt  the  task,  gives  a  list  of  twenty-three  of  them, 
finished  and  unfinished,  and  Hayley  mentions  several  others.  Some 
of  these  will  be  spoken  of  in  more  detail  later  on. 

In  addition  to  '  Nature '  and  '  Circe,'  one  of  the  best  representa- 
tions he  painted  of  her  was  as  '  A  Bacchante,'  of  which  there  are 
several  versions.  The  original  picture  was  dispatched  to  Sir  William 
Hamilton  in  Naples  early  in  1785.  In  one  of  his  letters  Charles 
Greville  tells  his  uncle : — Emma  is  very  grateful  for  your  remem- 
brance. Her  picture  shall  be  sent  by  the  first  ship — I  wish  Romney 
yet  to  mend  the  dog.'  This  picture,  with  others,  and  some  of  Sir 
William's  choicest  vases,  was  sent  back  to  England  during  the 
Neapolitan  disturbances,  and  lost  in  the  wreck  of  the  Colossus. 
Charles  Greville  possessed  a  replica,  probably  the  one  now  belonging 
to  Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne,  and  there  is  a  copy  at  Petworth, 
while  a  third  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  artist's  family  until 
Miss  Romney 's  sale  in  1894.  It  was,  says  Romney's  son,  'the  most 
enchanting  of  all  her  portraits'  (see  Plate  ix.).  Other  well-known 
canvases  are  the  three-quarter  length  of  her  in  a  straw  hat,  usually 
114 


PL  A  TE  XXI 11 


PLATE  XXIV 


'  SENSIBILITY ' 


known  as  1  Emma,'  which  was  painted  for  Mr.  Crawford;  the  whole- 
length  '  Cassandra,' painted  for  Boydell's  'Shakespeare  Gallery';  the 
'  St.  Cecilia';  the  '  Spinstress';  another  '  Bacchante,'  a  head  only,  pur- 
chased by  Sir  John  Leicester  for  twenty-five  guineas,  who  gave  it  its 
title;  the  'Sensibility';  '  Alope  Exposed  with  her  Child,'  for  which 
Admiral  Vernon  gave  sixty  guineas ;  unfinished  whole  -  lengths  of 
'Iphigenia'  and  'Joan  of  Arc';  a  half-length  of  'The  Pythian 
Priestess';  and  a  'Calypso'  and  a  'Magdalen,'  painted  for  George, 
Prince  of  Wales,  who  gave  two  hundred  pounds  for  them.  Some  of 
these  were  painted  in  1791,  at  the  time  when  Emma  Hart  came  back 
to  England  to  be  made  Lady  Hamilton. 

The  'Sensibility'  was  begun  in  the  autumn  of  1786,  merely  as 
a  head  of  Lady  Hamilton  on  a  small  canvas.    When  Hay  ley  saw  it— 
in  November,  according  to  his  Life  of  Romney,  but  in  the  following- 
May,  according  to  his  own  Memoirs — he  was  greatly  delighted  with 
it,   and  exclaimed : — '  This  is  a  most  happy  beginning ;  you  never 
painted  a  female  head  with  such  exquisite  expression ;  you  have  only 
to  enlarge  your  canvas,  introduce  the  shrub  mimosa,  growing  in  a 
vase,  with  a  hand  approaching  its  leaves,  and  you  may  call  your 
picture  a  personification  of  Sensibility.'    '  I  like  your  suggestion,' 
replied  the  painter,  '  and  will  enlarge  my  canvas  immediately.'   '  Do  so 
(I  answered  with  exultation,  on  his  kindly  adopting  my  idea)  and  with- 
out loss  of  time  I  will  hasten  to  an  eminent  nurseryman  at  Hammer- 
smith, and  bring  you  the  most  beautiful  plant  I  can  find,  that  may  suit 
your  purpose.'    This  was  done,  and  the  picture  was  turned  into  the 
well-known  full-length  kneeling  figure.    Thus  altered  it  illustrated  an 
incident  in  Hayley's  poem,  The  T?iumphs  of  Temper,  and  this  no 
doubt  was  the  chief  reason  for  his  suggestion.    The  poet  was  most 
anxious  to  possess  it,  and  as  one  of  his  neighbours  was  in  treaty  with 
him  for  the  purchase  of  a  small  farm,  he  sold  the  land  on  the  under- 
standing that  the  picture  was  to  be  purchased  from  Romney  and 
added  to  the  price.    Hayley  thus  got  the  picture  for  nothing,  and 
shortly  afterwards  lent  it  to  Boydell  to  be  engraved,  thus  terminating 
an  '  unpleasant  altercation '  between  the  publisher  and  the  painter 
over  a  print.    Romney  returned  the  painting  to  him  on  October 
27th,  1789,  after  it  had  been  engraved,  and  sent  with  it  as  a  gift  'two 
attendant  figures  in  chiaro  oscuro,'  representing  'Sorrow'  and  'Joy.' 
In  the  accompanying  letter  the  artist  explained  that  they  were  to  be 
accepted  as  an  expression  of  his  remorse  for  unintentionally  wounding 
his  friend's  feelings,  who,  however,  had  not  the  slightest  recollection 

115 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


of  any  cause  for  such  displeasure.  The  picture  is  now  at  Rangemore, 
the  late  Lord  Burton's  seat.  It  was  engraved  in  stipple  by  Richard 
Earlom,  and  published  in  March  1789,  and  the  head  only,  in  a  circle, 
also  in  stipple,  by  Caroline  Watson,  for  Hayley's  Life  of  Romney. 

The  full-length  seated  figure  of  '  St.  Cecilia,'  with  musical  attri- 
butes, which  was  engraved  in  stipple  by  George  Keating  in  1789,  was 
purchased  by  Mr.  Montagu  Burgoyne,  and  is  the  only  one  to  which 
this  title  can  be  properly  applied.  It  now  belongs  to  Lord  Masham. 
There  are  two  other  versions  of  this  picture,  generally  known  by  the 
same  title,  though  a  better  description  of  them  would  be  '  Lady 
Hamilton  praying,'  one  in  possession  of  Lord  Iveagh,  while  the  other 
was  in  the  collection  of  the  late  Mr.  Alfred  Beit.  The  former1  was 
lent  to  the  Birmingham  Art  Gallery  in  1903,  and  the  latter2  is 
apparently  a  carefully  finished  first  study  for  it.  In  both  of  them  the 
lady  is  shown  only  to  the  waist,  with  eyes  uplifted,  and  hands  clasped  in 
prayer,  and  a  heavy  white  veil  draped  over  the  hair,  while  the  musical 
attributes  are  wanting.  Mr.  Beit's  version,  which  was  recently  en- 
graved in  mezzotint  by  Mr.  Norman  Hirst,  is  said  to  have  been  pur- 
chased in  Naples  soon  after  the  revolution  there,  and  to  have  been 
looted  from  the  English  Embassy  during  the  riots,  when  the  King 
and  Queen,  and  Sir  William  and  Lady  Hamilton,  were  obliged  to 
take  refuge  on  Nelson's  ship.  It  was  probably  one  or  other  of  these 
versions  of  '  St.  Cecilia '  which  was  purchased  by  Lord  Nelson  when 
Sir  William  Hamilton,  to  the  Admiral's  great  rage,  sold  several 
portraits  of  Emma  at  Christie's  with  his  other  pictures,  including  the 
one  by  Madame  Vigee  Le  Brun.  This  picture  he  hung  up  in  his 
cabin.  '  Yesterday  I  joined  Admiral  Totty,'  he  writes  to  his  en- 
chantress, '  where  I  found  little  Parker 3  with  all  my  treasures,  your 
dear,  kind,  friendly  letters,  your  picture  as  Santa  Emma,  for  a  Santa 
you  are,  if  ever  there  was  one  in  this  world.' 

The  beautiful  '  Lady  Hamilton  at  the  Spinning  Wheel,'  or  '  The 
Spinstress,'  which  was  sold  at  Messrs.  Christie's  on  July  3rd,  1875,  for 
770  guineas,  and  acquired  by  the  Earl  of  Normanton,  was  painted  for 
Charles  Greville,  but  was  still  unpaid  for  two  years  after  the  lady  had 
departed  for  Naples.  Greville  was  in  pecuniary  difficulties,  and  as 
Mr.  John  Christian  Curwen  wanted  it,  he  agreed  to  relinquish  it  to 

1  Reproduced  in  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell's  book. 

2  Reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower's  book. 

3  Possibly  Sir  Hyde  Parker,  Captain  of  the  Phoenix,  of  whom  Romney  painted  a  full-length 
portrait,  which  was  well  engraved  by  James  Walker  in  1780. 

116 


'THE  SPINSTRESS' 


him.  '  The  separation  from  the  original  of  the  Spinstress,'  he  wrote  to 
Romney,  'has  not  been  indifferent  to  me,  and  I  am  but  just  recon- 
ciled to  it,  from  knowing  that  the  beneficial  consequences  of  acquire- 
ments will  be  obtained,  and  that  the  aberration  from  the  plan  I 
intended  will  be  for  her  benefit.  I  therefore  can  have  no  reason  to 
value  the  Spinstress  less  than  I  have  done,  on  the  contrary  the  just 
estimation  of  its  merits  is  ascertained  by  the  offer  from  a  person  who 
does  not  know  the  original ;  yet  I  find  myself  daily  so  much  poorer, 
that  I  do  not  foresee  when  I  can  pay  for  it,  and  I  am  already  too 
much  obliged  to  you  to  avail  myself  in  any  degree  of  your  kindness  to 
me ;  perhaps  Mr.  Christian  might  accept  my  resignation  of  it  and  pay 
for  it,  and  give  me  the  option  of  repurchasing  if  the  improbable  event 
of  my  increase  of  means  shall  enable  me  to  recover  what  I  now  lose 
with  regret ;  but  I  can  make  no  condition,  and  I  leave  the  full  and 
entire  disposal  of  it  to  you.' 

John  Christian,  who  took  the  additional  surname  of  Curwen  on 
his  marriage,  was  at  this  time  one  of  Romney's  best  patrons.  He  had 
'  taste  to  appreciate  his  merit  and  liberality  to  encourage  and  reward 
it.'  In  addition  to  '  The  Spinstress,'  for  which  he  gave  150  guineas, 
he  also  purchased  two  of  the  versions  of  '  Serena  '  and  one  of  the  several 
examples  of  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  '  Bacchante  Dancing.'  Both  he  and 
his  wife  sat  to  Romney  at  about  this  time  for  the  two  full-length 
portraits  still  at  Workington  Hall,  the  lady's  home.  She  is  repre- 
sented standing  in  a  landscape  beneath  a  tree,  turned  to  the  spectator  s 
right,  her  right  elbow  resting  on  a  pedestal,  and  the  right  knee  slightly 
bent.  The  dress  is  white,  with  a  blue  sash,  and  a  red  cloak,  held  by 
both  hands,  is  flung  over  one  arm.  It  is  one  of  Romney's  classical 
and  '  sculpturesque '  compositions.  In  the  background  the  family 
mansion  is  seen  across  a  sheet  of  water.  The  husband  is  shown  stand- 
ing by  the  side  of  a  horse,  in  a  dark  coat,  buff  breeches,  and  a  striped 
waistcoat.  He  holds  his  hat  in  his  right  hand,  and  his  left  arm  rests 
on  the  back  of  his  steed,  which  is  not  a  very  happy  example  of 
Romney's  skill  in  painting  animals,  and  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the 
excellence  of  the  rendering  of  the  man  himself.  These  two  portraits 
were  lent  to  the  Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibition,  1890,  by  Mr. 
H.  F.  Curwen. 

Romney's  own  favourite  among  all  the  many  studies  he  made 
of  Lady  Hamilton  was  the  'Spinstress.'  Mr.  Walter  Sichel,  in  his 
recently  published  book  on  her,  misled  by  a  letter  which  he  quotes  from 
Messrs.  Humphry  Ward  and  Roberts'  Romney,  says  that  Romney's 

117 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


choice  among  them  was  the  '  Sempstress,'  which  is  really  a  portrait  of 
Miss  Lucy  Vernon.  Mr.  Sichel's  quotation  runs : — ' "  The  sight," 
wrote  Romney  to  her  in  1786,  soon  after  her  first  appearance  in 
Naples,  "  of  such  a  head  as  the  Cassandra,"  which  he  was  copying  for 
Hayley,  always  "  inspires "  him ;  but  as  for  his  subsequent  sitters, 
"ladies  of  fashion,"  since  her  departure,  "all  fall  far  short  of  the 
'  Sempstress ' ;  indeed,  it  is  the  sun  of  my  Hemispheer  and  they  are 
the  twinkling  stars."  '  This  letter  was  found  by  Mr.  C.  Fairfax  Murray 
in  one  of  Romney 's  sketch-books  purchased  by  him  at  Miss  Romney 's 
sale  in  1894.  He  has  been  good  enough  to  examine  the  original 
again  carefully,  and  the  word  is  undoubtedly  '  Spinstress,'  a  mistake 
having  been  made  in  transcribing  it  in  the  first  instance.  The  only 
reason  for  calling  attention  to  this  error  here  is  that  if  it  is  not 
corrected  it  may  come  to  be  regarded  as  affording  absolute  proof  that 
Lady  Hamilton  was  the  model  for  the  '  Sempstress.'  That  she  sat 
for  this  beautiful  picture  of  Miss  Vernon  has  been  asserted  almost  as 
often  as  it  has  been  alleged  that  Honora  Sneyd  was  the  model  for 
Serena,  but  neither  of  these  statements  is  a  true  one. 

4  The  Sempstress,'  which  John  Romney  dates  about  1785,  was 
bought  by  Admiral  Vernon.  It  was  engraved  by  Thomas  Cheesman 
in  1787,  and  lent  to  the  Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibition  in  1880, 
as  '  Miss  Lucy  Vernon  as  a  Seamstress,'  by  Mr.  F.  W.  P.  Vernon- 
Went worth,  together  with  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  W ood  Nymph.' 


118 


XIII 


IT  was  at  this  period  of  his  life  that  Romney  achieved  many  of 
his  greatest  successes.  It  is  in  no  way  true,  as  stated  by  more 
than  one  writer,  that  while  he  was  under  the  spell  of  Lady 
Hamilton's  beauty,  he  reduced  the  number  of  his  sitters  in  order  to  be 
able  to  devote  more  time  to  depicting  her  loveliness.  On  the  contrary, 
the  inspiration  caused  by  her  presence  in  his  studio  seems  to  have 
found  an  echo  in  the  many  beautiful  portraits  he  painted  about 
this  time. 

In  a  pocket-book  belonging  to  Mr.  Lawrence  Romney,  which, 
from  a  pencilled  memorandum  within,  appears  to  have  been  used  by 
the  artist  in  1782,  there  are  one  or  two  rough  lists  of  names,  not  very 
easy  to  decipher,  which  evidently  refer  to  sitters.  Among  them  are 
Mr.  Wallace,  Mr.  Neville,  Mrs.  Ward,  Lord  Carlisle,  Mr.  (or  Mrs.) 
J.  Braddyll,  Mr.  Beckford,  the  Bishop  of  Chester,  Mr.  Montague 
Frederick,  Mrs.  Montagu  Burgoyne,  Lady  Vere,  Mrs.  Gale,  Mr.  (or 
Mrs.)  Rooke,  Mr.  Freeman,  Col.  North,  Sir  N.  Thomas,  Miss  Taub- 
man,  Mrs.  Knatchbull,  Mrs.  Maxwell,  Mrs.  Grove,  and  Mrs.  Newbery, 
and  such  notes  as  '  write  to  the  Duchess  of  Marlborough,'  *  Walker's 
Picter';  'Finish  Miss  Clavering  Pict,'  and  'Mr.  Wale  (?)  a  bill  of 
Lady  Shelburne's  Picter.'  Other  notes  include  lists  of  things  to  be 
taken  with  him  to  Eartham,  and  memoranda  of  various  kinds.  The 
book  is  filled  with  pencil  sketches,  many  of  them  hasty  indications  of 
poses  and  attitudes  for  portraits,  one  of  which,  of  a  young  lady  seated, 
with  her  head  resting  on  her  arm,  is  labelled  '  Miss  Long.'  Other 
rough  drawings  are  of  figures  for  some  of  his  classical  subjects. 

The  Mrs.  Montagu  Burgoyne,  who  was  among  his  sitters  in  1782, 
was  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Eliab  Harvey  of  Clay  bury  Hall,  Essex, 
and  wife  of  Montagu,  the  second  son  of  Sir  Roger  Burgoyne,  Bart. 
The  portrait  is  a  half-length,  in  which  she  is  dressed  in  white,  with  a 
blue  sash,  and  is  leaning  her  head  on  her  right  hand.  It  was  lent  to 
the  Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibition  in  1882  by  Madame  de 
Quaire. 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year  he  met  Miss  Anna  Seward,  the  poetess, 

119) 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


at  Eartham,  and  painted  her  portrait  for  his  host,  who  gave  it  a  place 
of  honour  on  his  walls  between  busts  of  Newton  and  Pope.  He  had 
intended  that  the  busts  should  be  of  Pope  and  Prior,  but  the  sculptor 
made  a  mistake,  which  Hayley  explained  to  Miss  Seward  in  some 
humorous  verses.  The  lady  regarded  this  as  'intoxicating  flattery.' 
'  How  charming  is  your  poetical  gallantry ! '  she  writes.  '  If  all  the 
testimonies  of  it,  bestowed  upon  my  flattered  self,  were  collected  and 
given  to  the  world,  the  garlands  of  Swift's  Stella,  and  Prior's  Chloe 
would  fade  before  mine.  My  pride,  my  heart  exults  in  these  distinc- 
tions, conferred  by  the  transcendent  English  bard  of  the  present  aera.' 
Hayley  had  made  the  personal  acquaintance  of  the  lady  in  the  previous 
year,  during  a  short  visit  to  the  poetess  and  her  father  in  the  Episcopal 
Close,  Lichfield.  '  As  to  the  person  of  this  female  genius,'  he  wrote 
to  his  Eliza,  '  I  cannot  give  you  a  better  idea  of  it,  than  by  saying  she 
is  a  handsome  likeness  of  those  full-length  pictures  which  you  have 
seen  of  your  namesake,  Queen  Elizabeth,  where  the  painters  gave 
her  Majesty  all  the  beauty  they  could,  consistent  with  the  character  of 
her  face.  The  Muse  laughs  at  herself  as  fat  and  lame ;  yet  the 
connoisseurs  in  woman  would  still  pronounce  her  handsome.' 

Miss  Seward  was  rather  proud  of  her  supposed  likeness  to  Mrs. 
Fitzherbert.  In  one  of  her  letters  to  her  faithful  Saville,  written  from 
Buxton  in  1796,  she  tells  him  : — '  That  resemblance  to  Mrs.  Fitzherbert, 
with  which  I  have  been  so  variously,  so  repeatedly  flattered,  was 
observed  by  the  polite,  obliging,  and  agreeable  Lady  Harewood  last 
night,  who  has  taken  me  to  each  assembly  since  I  had  first  the  honour 
of  her  notice.' 

When  she  returned  the  visit  in  1782,  both  her  host  and  Romney 
did  their  best  to  entertain  her,  the  one  with  his  pen,  the  other  wTith  his 
pencil,  and  mutual  admiration  reigned  supreme.  Her  reception  was 
vastly  congenial  to  her  '  sprightly  and  cultivated  mind.  Many  occa- 
sional jeuoc  d1  esprit »  we  are  told,  '  arose  in  the  course  of  this  interesting 
visit.' 

Romney  began  a  second  portrait  of  her  at  Eartham,  which  he  took 
up  again  in  1786,  the  fine  three-quarter  length,  in  which  she  is  seated 
with  her  head  resting  on  her  hand,  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  T.  L. 
Burrowes  (see  Plate  x.).  It  was  not  finished  until  the  summer  of 
1788,  when,  urged  by  Hayley,  he  completed  it,  and  sent  it  as  a  present 
to  Miss  Seward's  father.  It  was  received  with  the  greatest  delight  in 
Lichfield,  and  produced  verses  and  grateful  letters  in  return.1 

1  See  page  151 . 

120 


ANNA  SEWARD   AND  HAYLEY 


Rom ney  greatly  admired  the  lady,  says  Hayley, 'for  her  poetical 
talents,  for  the  sprightly  charms  of  her  social  character,  and  for  the 
graces  of  a  majestic  person.  He  was  much  affected  by  her  filial 
tenderness,  when  she  spoke  of  her  aged  father,  and  in  his  zeal  to 
gratify  the  good  old  man  with  a  resemblance  of  his  accomplished 
daughter,  he  began,  in  Sussex,  a  successful  portrait  of  this  admirable 
lady,  which  he  completed  in  London.  Romney  had  one  characteristic 
as  an  artist,  for  which  it  is  hardly  possible  to  honor  his  memory  too 
much  :  He  never  seemed  so  happy,  as  when  his  pencil  was  employed 
in  the  service  of  the  benevolent  affections.  His  fervent  spirit  was 
more  eager  to  oblige  a  friend,  or  to  gratify  a  parent,  than  to  exert 
itself  in  the  pursuit  of  affluence,  or  fame.' 

The  Swan  of  Lichfield's  opinion  of  the  Bard  of  Eartham  was  no 
less  flattering.  '  Hayley  is  indeed  a  true  poet,'  she  wrote  to  George 
Hardinge  in  1786.  'He  has  the  fire  and  the  invention  of  Dry  den, 
without  any  of  his  absurdity ;  and  he  has  the  wit  and  ease  of  Prior. 
If  his  versification  is  a  degree  less  polished  than  Pope's,  it  is  more 
various.  We  find  the  numbers  sweet  and  flowing,  and,  I  think, 
sufficiently  abundant  in  the  graces  of  harmony.'  A  year  or  two  later 
she  exclaims  to  Court  Dewes  : — '  Surely  Mr.  Hayley's  verse  breathes  a 
more  creative  and  original  genius,  than  even  the  brilliant  Pope,  who 
excels  him  in  nothing  but  in  the  high  and  laboured  polish  of  his 
enchanting  numbers ;  while  Mr.  H.'s  prose  has  the  ease  and  wit  of 
Addison,  with  much  more  strength  and  spirit.'  And  again,  in  writing 
to  young  Cary,  the  future  translator  of  Dante : — '  You  say  the 
Triumphs  of  Temper  ensure  immortality  to  Mr.  Hayley's  fame;  but 
surely  if  that  exquisite  sportive  production  of  a  rich  and  luxuriant 
imagination  had  never  been  written,  his  beautiful  Epistles  on  Painting, 
and,  far  above  even  them,  his  Essays  on  Epic  Poetry,  together  with 
that  fine  Ode  to  Howard,  will  be  considered  as  amongst  the  first 
Delphic  ornaments  of  the  eighteenth  century.' 

During  this  same  visit  to  Eartham  in  1782  Romney  began  to  paint 
his  own  portrait,  at  Hayley's  own  request,  who  had  no  hesitation  in 
asking  for  such  a  present.  Romney  took  the  canvas  back  with  him  to 
London  in  order  to  complete  it ;  but,  says  John  Romney,  Hayley  '  did 
not  allow  him  to  finish  it,  but  hurried  it  off  to  Eartham  without 
delay.  The  head,  however,  is  perfect,  but  the  rest  of  the  figure,  which 
could  not  be  completed  without  a  model,  remains  in  statu  quo ;  but 
Mr.  Hayley  preferred  the  bird  in  hand.'  '  It  is  an  uncommonly  fine 
head,'  he  goes  on,  '  extremely  like,  and  full  of  character ;  any  physio- 

121 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


gnomist  who  saw  it,  would  say:  "that  is  the  head  of  a  man  of  genius  "; 
and  if  he  was  a  connoisseur,  would  add :  "  and  he  that  painted  it,  must 
also  have  been  one  of  the  highest  class."'  The  painter  was  forty- 
eight  at  the  time.  At  this  point  of  his  narrative  the  son,  no  doubt  in 
emulation  of  Hayley,  bursts  forth  into  song,  with  a  sonnet  of  small 
poetic  pretensions,  in  its  honour.  This  portrait,  which  is  one  of  the 
finest  studies  of  character  Romney  ever  accomplished,  is  now  in  the 
National  Portrait  Gallery.    (See  Plate  xi. ) 

In  their  valuable  Catalogue  Raisonne  Messrs.  Humphry  Ward  and 
Roberts,  misled  by  a  paragraph  in  Hayley 's  Life  (p.  86),  attribute  it  to 
the  year  1780,  when  the  painter  was  forty-six.  Hayley  says :  '  He 
gratified  me  particularly,  in  that  year,1  by  shewing  the  versatility  of 
his  talents ;  for  he  finished  an  admirable  drawing  in  water-colours  of 
his  friends  at  Eartham,  and  also  a  strong  resemblance  of  himself, 
which  the  reader  will  see  engraved  in  the  trio  of  his  own  portraits, 
and  marked  with  the  year  of  his  age,  forty-six.'  Turning  to  the 
frontispiece,  where  these  three  portraits  are  badly  engraved,  it  will  be 
found  that  the  engraver  has  omitted  to  place  the  several  dates  and 
ages  beneath  them,  in  spite  of  Hayley 's  statement  to  the  contrary  in 
the  text;  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  easy  to  identify  the  1780  portrait 
among  them.  At  the  bottom  of  the  plate  is  inscribed :  '  Three  por- 
traits of  Romney  by  himself  at  different  periods  of  his  life,  in  oil,  in 
water-colours,  and  in  crayons,  all  painted  at  Eartham.'  The  one  in 
oil  is  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  picture,  and  the  one  in  which  he  is 
shown  in  spectacles  is  the  crayon  study  he  made  in  March,  1799,  while 
the  remaining  one,  a  small  oval,  in  which  he  is  wearing  a  cocked  hat, 
is  undoubtedly  the  water-colour  drawing  made  in  1780.  Hayley,  in  the 
words  quoted  above,  although  he  does  not  express  himself  very  clearly, 
certainly  refers,  not  to  an  oil  painting,  but  to  a  second  water-colour 
drawing,  the  first  one  being  the  small  group  of  Hayley,  Mrs.  Hayley, 
and  Lieut.  Howell,  which  was  No.  135  in  the  Romney  Exhibition 
(Summer,  1900),  lent  by  Mr.  Ernest  Leggatt. 

Additional  proof  of  this  is  found  later  on  in  Hayley 's  book  (p.  96), 
where  he  says  that  in  *  the  autumn  of  1784  ...  he  began  at  my 
request,  on  that  occasion,  the  striking  resemblance  of  himself  in  oil, 
which  may  be  regarded  as  the  best  of  his  own  portraits,  and  which  is 
marked  in  the  frontispiece  to  this  volume  with  the  year  of  his  age, 
forty-nine.  It  well  expresses  that  pensive  vivacity,  and  profusion  of 
ideas,  which  a  spectator  might  discover  in  his  countenance,  whenever 

1  1780.    See  page  98. 

122 


THE  'SERENA'  PICTURES 


he  sat  absorbed  in  studious  meditation.'  As  to  this  date,  however, 
the  painter's  two  biographers  do  not  agree. 

John  Romney,  who  is  usually  more  accurate  than  Hayley,  states 
very  distinctly  (p.  192)  that  the  portrait,  of  which  the  engraving  by 
Thomas  Wright  forms  the  frontispiece  of  his  Memoirs,  was  painted  in 
the  autumn  of  1782,  when  the  artist  was  forty-eight;  and  there  is 
every  probability  that  his  statement  is  the  correct  one,  and  that  the 
picture  was  painted  in  1782,  and  not  in  1780  or  1784.  Hayley,  in  his 
own  Memoirs,  does  not  mention  it. 

Other  portraits  of  1782  were  half-lengths  of  Captain  Peere 
Williams,  R.N.,  and  Lady  Augusta  Murray,  the  latter  for  his  good 
patroness  the  Countess  Gower,  as  well  as  the  delightfully  delicate  and 
refined  'Duchess-Countess  of  Sutherland,'  recently  removed  from 
Trentham  to  Stafford  House.  Lady  Gower  also  bought  one  of  the 
several  versions  of  his  ideal  portrait  of '  Serena,'  the  heroine  of  The 
Triumphs  of  Temper.  The  '  Serena '  pictures  are  almost  always 
spoken  of  as  portraits  of  Honora  Sneyd  (Mrs.  Richard  Lovell 
Edgeworth),  but  they  certainly  do  not  represent  that  lady,  whom 
Romney  never  saw.  The  reiterated  statements  of  Miss  Seward  in 
her  Letters 1  must  be  taken  as  absolute  proof  of  this,  for  Honora  was 
a  member  of  the  Seward  household  in  Lichfield  for  fourteen  years, 
and  the  poetess  never  ceased  to  regret  her  early  death.  '  Serena ' 
merely  embodied  Romney  s  ideal  of  girlish  innocence  and  beauty,  and 
her  striking  likeness  to  Miss  Sneyd  was  merely  accidental. 

There  are  eight  or  nine  '  Serena '  pictures  in  existence,  as  well  as 
several  slighter  studies.  Among  them  are  two  for  which  Lady 
Hamilton  sat  as  the  model,  the  'Sensibility'  picture  in  the  Burton 
collection,  and  the  unfinished  canvas  in  Mr.  Pierpont  Morgan's 
possession  usually  known  as  '  Lady  Hamilton  reading  a  Gazette,' 
though  the  former  of  these  was  only  turned  into  a  '  Serena '  on 
Hayley's  suggestion.2  The  others  were  all  painted  from  an  unknown 
model,  probably  the  young  lady  already  mentioned  (see  page  99),  who 
was  visiting  at  Eartham  in  1780  when  Hayley  was  at  work  on  his 
poem.  Mrs.  Gamlin  says  that  the  Thurlow  version  of  the  reading 
Serena  was  painted  from  Lady  Margaret  Beauclerk,  and  that  '  there 
can  be  no  doubt  but  that  she  was  the  original  of  both  the  full  and 
profile  reading  Serenas,'  but  she  gives  no  authority  for  this  statement. 

Five  of  these  canvases   represent   Serena   reading  Evelina  by 

1  See  Appendix  n.  for  proofs. 

2  See  page  115. 

123 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


candle-light,  and  illustrate  the  following  lines  from  the  first  canto  of 

The  Triumphs  of  Temper  : — 

'Nor  held  it  sin  to  cast  a  private  glance 
O'er  the  dear  pages  of  a  new  romance, 
Eager  in  fiction's  touching  scenes  to  find 
A  field,  to  exercise  her  youthful  mind ; 
The  touching  scenes  new  energy  imprest 
On  all  the  virtues  of  her  feeling  breast. 
Sweet  Evelina's  fascinating  power 
Had  first  beguil'd  of  sleep  her  midnight  hour : 
Possest  by  sympathy's  enchanting  sway, 
She  read,  unconscious  of  the  dawning  day.' 

One  of  these  versions  was  purchased  from  Romney  by  Lord 
Thurlow,  another  by  Mr.  Christian  Curwen,  and  a  third  by  Lady 
Gower.  The  two  former  were  exhibited  at  the  second  of  the  two 
Romney  Exhibitions  held  in  the  Grafton  Gallery  in  the  summer  and 
winter  of  1900-1901,  together  with  a  third  example  lent  by  Mr.  A. 
Smith,  and  '  Serena  in  the  Boat  of  Apathy,'  which  was  also  purchased 
from  the  artist  by  Mr.  Curwen. 

The  most  beautiful  of  all,  No.  24  in  the  catalogue,  was  lent  by 
Major  Thurlow,  a  descendant  of  the  original  owner,  and  is  reproduced 
in  this  book.  (See  Frontispiece.)  Romney  never  painted  anything 
sweeter  or  more  tender  than  this,  the  only  one  of  the  series  in  which 
she  is  shown  full  face,  seated  upon  a  sofa,  her  head  bent  over  the  book. 
This  picture  was  exhibited  at  the  Manchester  Art  Treasures  Exhibi- 
tion in  1857,  and  at  the  British  Institution  in  1803.  It  was  engraved 
in  stipple  by  John  Jones,  and  published  March  1st,  1790,  and  again  in 
stipple  by  Hopwood  in  1811. 

The  other  reading  '  Serenas '  are  all  shown  in  profile,  with  the  face 
turned  to  the  left.  No.  25  (Grafton  Gallery)  was  lent  by  Mr.  Alan 
de  L.  Curwen,  a  descendant  of  the  original  purchaser.  It  represents 
Hayley's  heroine  seated  in  her  bedchamber  reading  by  candle-light  (as 
described  in  Miss  Seward's  letter),1  so  absorbed  in  her  book  that  she  is 
unconscious  of  the  dawning  light  already  stealing  through  her  open 
window.  This  canvas  is  still  in  perfect  condition.  It  was  engraved 
in  mezzotint  by  John  Raphael  Smith,  and  published  September  28th, 
1782.  The  engraver  added  the  head-line  'Evelina'  to  the  book  she 
holds,  and  the  four  last  lines  from  the  extract  quoted  above  are 

1  See  Appendix  n, 

124 


MASTER  COLLINGWOOD 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  COLONEL  W.    HALL  WALKER 

Page  28s 


PLATE  XXVI 


THE  'SERENA'  PICTURES 


engraved  beneath  the  plate.1  In  the  stipple  by  Jones,  already  men- 
tioned, no  title  is  placed  on  the  book,  but  the  name  '  Serena'  and  the 
four  lines  of  verse  are  given  in  the  second  state  of  the  engraving.  The 
Curwen  example  was  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibi- 
tion, 1890,  by  Mr.  H.  F.  Curwen,  as  'A  Lady  Reading'  (No.  160). 

A  slightly  smaller  replica  of  it  was  lent  to  the  Grafton  Gallery  by 
Mr.  A.  Smith  (No.  6),  which,  although  it  has  suffered  a  little  from 
cleaning  at  some  earlier  date,  is  undoubtedly  from  Romney's  hand, 
and  displays  beauty  of  colour  and  real  grace  in  the  designing  of  the 
draperies. 

In  addition  to  these  there  was  a  '  Head  of  Serena  (front  view),' 
No.  42,  lent  by  Mr.  G.  H.  Shepherd  ;  and  in  the  earlier  of  the  two 
Romney  exhibitions  a  '  Portrait  of  Honora  Sneyd  as  Serena'  (No.  116), 
lent  by  Mr.  O.  B.  Marty n. 

At  a  miscellaneous  sale  at  Christie's  on  May  23rd,  1903,  among 
several  pictures  from  the  collection  of  Mr.  E.  W.  Beckett,  M.P.,  there 
was  a  '  Portrait  of  Miss  Sneyd'  (No.  81),  in  white  dress  and  mob-cap 
with  blue  ribbon,  seated  at  a  table  reading  (59  in.  x  48  in.),  which  was 
purchased  by  Mr.  A.  Smith  for  650  guineas.  This  seems  to  correspond 
with  the  picture  lent  by  Mr.  Smith  to  the  second  Romney  exhibition. 

A  third  version  of  the  '  profile '  picture  is  the  one  purchased  from 
the  painter  by  Lady  Gower,  and  still  in  the  possession  of  the  Duke  of 
Sutherland,  which  is  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower's 
Romney  (page  78);  while  a  fourth  and  considerably  smaller  example 
is  in  the  Dyce  Collection  at  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  and  is 
reproduced  in  '  George  Paston's '  Life  of  the  artist  (page  65).  Lord 
Ronald  Sutherland  Gower  describes  the  Trentham  version  as  being 
'  pearly  and  as  fresh  in  colouring  as  the  morning  light  that  is  invading 
the  unconscious  nymph's  studies.' 

The  fourth  of  the  '  Serena '  pictures  shown  at  the  Grafton  Gallery 
was  No.  41,  'Serena  in  the  Boat  of  Apathy,'  which  also  has  remained 
in  the  possession  of  the  Curwen  family  since  the  day  it  was  painted. 
This  represents  Serena  when  she  visits,  in  her  dreams,  in  company  with 
the  fairy  sprite  Sophrosyne, 

'  The  realms,  where  Spleen's  infernal  agents  goad 
The  ghostly  tenants  of  her  drear  ahode,' 


1  In  the  earliest  state  of  the  plate  it  is  merely  scratched  '  Serena,  vide  Hayley's  triumphs  of 
Temper.' 

125 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


and  embarks,  in  great  fear,  in  the  boat  guided  by  the  grisly  figure  of 
Apathy,  which  is  to  carry  her  over  the  gulf  of  Indolence.  Romney 
has  represented  her  reclining  at  full  length,  in  profile,  with  her  hands 
clasped  under  her  chin,  in  illustration  of  the  lines  : 

*th'  obedient  maid 
Her  form  along  the  narrow  vessel  laid : 
But  oh  !  what  terrors  shake  her  tender  soul, 
As  from  the  shore  the  bark  begins  to  roll, 
And,  sever'd  from  her  friend,  her  eyes  discern 
The  steering  spectre  wading  at  the  stern  ! ' 

This  picture  was  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibi- 
tion, 1890,  under  the  erroneous  title  of  '  Miranda  in  a  Boat  propelled  by 
Caliban  '  (No.  43).  An  unfinished  version  of  it  (49  in.  x  60^  in.),  almost 
of  the  exact  size  of  the  original,  appeared  in  a  sale  of  various  proper- 
ties at  Messrs.  Christie's,  on  July  8th,  1905,  as  '  A  Maiden  in  the  Boat 
of  Charon,'  and  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Permain.  The  background, 
with  the  figure  of  Apathy  who  guides  the  boat,  had  been  only  hastily 
indicated,  and  since  its  purchase  a  part  of  it  has  been  cut  away,  and 
the  effect  of  the  picture  improved.  It  has  been  re-christened  '  Serena 
in  Contemplation.' 

A  smaller  version  of  the  subject,  in  which  only  the  upper  part  of 
Serena's  figure  is  shown,  is  reproduced  in  Mr.  Walter  Sichel's  Lady 
Hamilton?  He  sees  in  it  a  portrait  of  the  fair  Emma,  although  the 
likeness  is  not  very  striking.  In  this  attribution  he  seems  to  have  been 
misled  by  a  letter  from  Hay  ley  to  Lady  Hamilton,  which  he  quotes 
from  Pettigrew,  vol.  ii.,  and  prints  in  the  following  note  (p.  18) : — 

'  Hayley,  writing  to  her  in  1804,  and  signing  himself"  The  Hermit," 
says  that  in  his  "little  marine  cell"  he  could  "entertain"  her  "with 
a  sight  of  yourself  in  three  enchanting  personages,  '  Cassandra,' 
*  Serena,'  and  '  Sensibility.'  These  three  ladies  are  all  worth  seeing, 
whether  the  old  hermit  is  so  or  not ;  so  pray,  come  to  see  us  whenever 
you  can.    Adieu." ' 

It  will  be  seen  that  out  of  the  three  pictures  of  Emma  which 
Hayley  then  possessed,  two  or  them  represented  her  as  the  heroine 
of  his  most  popular  poem  ;  but  the  one  he  calls  '  Serena '  was  not  a 
version  of  the  '  Boat  of  Apathy,'  but  undoubtedly  the  splendid  un- 
finished study  now  belonging  to  Mr.  Pierpont  Morgan,  commonly  and 
quite  erroneously  called  '  Lady  Hamilton  reading  a  Gazette  recording 

1  One  of  the  versions  of  this  picture  is  reproduced  in  colours  in  The  Connoisseur  for  February 
1909. 

126 


'SERENA  READING  THE  NEWSPAPER' 


one  of  Nelson's  victories,' — in  all  ways  a  ridiculous  and  quite  impos- 
sible title.  This  unfinished  picture  was  given  to  Hay  ley  by  llomney 
in  1798,  when  the  poet  was  paying  a  visit  to  the  painter  in  his  new 
house.  On  December  1st  of  that  year  Hayley  wrote  to  his  son  Tom, 
then  ill  at  home  at  Eartham,  '  Did  I  tell  you  he  has  kindly  given  me 
his  unfinished  sketch  of  "Serena  reading  the  newspaper."'  It  was 
bought  in  at  Hayley 's  sale  in  1821,  with  other  Romney  pictures,  by 
his  cousin  and  heir,  Captain  Godfrey,  and  was  sold  by  the  latter's 
grandson  at  Christie's,  May  12th,  1888,  with  three  others,  among 
them  the  '  Cassandra,'  when  it  was  purchased  by  Messrs.  Agnew  for 
£1312,  10s.,  and  passed  into  Mr.  Morgan's  collection.  It  was  included 
in  the  Winter  Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy,  1877,  and  again  in 
1895,  and  at  the  Grafton  Gallery  and  elsewhere,  and  always,  as  at  the 
sale  in  1888,  under  the  incorrect  title  quoted  above. 

This  study  undoubtedly  represents  the  scene  in  the  fourth  canto 
of  the  Triumphs  of  Temper,  in  which  Serena,  descending  early  before 
the  morning  meal  is  ready,  idly  takes  up  the  newspaper,  and  finds 
therein  a  scandalous  paragraph  about  herself: 

'  So  did  Serena  start,  so  wildly  gaze, 
In  such  mixt  pangs  of  anguish  and  amaze, 
Feeling  the  wound  which  Scandal  had  design'd 
To  lacerate  her  mild  and  modest  mind. 
Startled,  as  one  who  from  electric  wire 
Unheeding  catches  unsuspected  fire, 
She  reads,  then  almost  doubts  that  she  has  read, 
And  thinks  some  vision  hovers  round  her  head. 
Now,  her  fixt  eye  some  striking  words  confine, 
And  now  she  darts  it  thrice  thro'  every  line ; 
Nor  could  amazement  more  her  senses  shake, 
Had  every  letter  been  a  gorgon's  snake. 
Now  rising  indignation  takes  its  turn, 
And  her  flush'd  cheeks  with  tingling  blushes  burn, 
With  restless  motion  and  with  many  a  frown, 
Thro'  the  wide  room  she  paces  up  and  down.' 

In  this  splendid  study  the  look  of  dawning  horror  and  disgust  in 
her  widely-opened  eyes  under  lifted  brows  is  wonderfully  expressed. 
She  is  wearing,  too,  the  high  white  mob-cap  in  which  she  is  represented 
in  all  the  other  '  Serena '  pictures.  Further  evidence  in  favour  of  this 
ascription  may  be  found  in  the  sixth  edition  of  Hayley 's  poem,  pub- 
lished by  T.  Cadell  in  1788,  with  seven  illustrations  by  Stothard, 

127 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


engraved  by  Sharp,  Heath,  and  Neagle.  Several  of  these  illustrations, 
if  not  all,  are  taken  by  Stothard  from  Romney's  designs  without  any 
acknowledgment.  The  '  Serena  Reading '  is,  with  the  exception  that 
she  is  shown  with  her  arms  resting  on  a  table,  practically  identical  with 
the  profile  '  Serena,'  and  the  figure  in  the  '  Boat  of  Apathy '  is  the 
same  as  in  Mr.  Curwen's  picture.  In  the  one  in  which  the  lady  is 
represented  reading  the  newspaper  the  pose  resembles  that  in  Mr. 
Morgan's  study,  although  the  figure  is  shown  at  full  length,  and  the 
expression  is  smiling,  as  it  illustrates  the  story  a  moment  later,  when 
the  heroine  is  appeased  by  finding  in  the  same  paper  a  sonnet  in 
her  honour  from  the  pen  of  some  unknown  admirer.1  Another  illus- 
tration represents  the  incident  of  the  Sensitive  Plant,  and  although  this 
has  no  resemblance  to  Lord  Burton's  picture,  the  nymphs  dancing  in 
a  ring  in  the  background  recall  not  only  the  dancing  Gower  children 
but  more  than  one  study  in  Romney's  sketch-books  ;  and  again,  in  the 
one  in  which  the  powers  of  Mischief  are  shown  round  the  cauldron 
from  which  rises  the  phantom  Spleen,  there  is  a  close  resemblance  to 
more  than  one  of  Romney's  sketches  and  studies  at  Cambridge  and 
elsewhere.  With  regard  to  the  two  remaining  engravings  the  writer 
has  been  unable  to  trace  any  original  source  from  which  they  have 
been  adapted. 

They  represent  '  Sir  Gilbert  and  Serena,'  in  which  the  father, 
tortured  by  gout,  refuses  to  allow  her  to  go  to  the  ball,  and  '  Falkland 
and  Serena  at  the  Ball,'  and  as  two  pictures  with  these  titles  were 
exhibited  at  the  Liverpool  Royal  Institution  in  1787,  by  S.  Harding, 
of  London,  the  illustrations  were  probably  taken  from  them. 

The  twelfth  edition,  published  in  1803,  12mo.,  had  six  plates  from 
'  new,  original  designs  by  Maria  Flaxman,'  engraved  by  William  Blake, 
but  here  again  the  source  of  the  inspiration  was  Romney.  Blake, 
writing  to  Thomas  Butts  on  10th  January,  1802,  says,  '  I  am  now 
engaged  in  engraving  six  small  plates  for  a  new  edition  of  Mr.  Hayley's 
Triumphs  of  Temper,  from  drawings  by  Maria  Flaxman,  sister  to  my 
friend  the  sculptor.' 

The  remaining  '  Serena '  picture,  the  late  Lord  Burton's  '  Lady 
Hamilton  as  Sensibility,'  is  described  elsewhere ;  its  connection  with 
the  poem  was  only  an  afterthought,  whereas  the  others  were  directly 
inspired  by  Hayley's  verses.  It  represents  Serena's  vision  of  the  queen 
Sensibility  in  her  flowery  kingdom  : — 

1  Since  completing  this  chapter  the  writer  finds  that  Mrs.  Gamlin  (pp.  143-145)  has  already 
given  the  right  title  to  this  picture. 

128 


PORTRAIT  OF  GIBBON 


'  The  bending  snow-drop,  and  the  briar-rose, 
The  simple  circle  of  her  crown  compose ; 
Roses  of  every  hue  her  robe  adorn, 

Her  fair  left  arm  around  a  vase  she  flings, 

From  which  the  tender  plant  mimosa  springs : 

Towards  its  leaves,  o'er  which  she  fondly  bends, 

The  youthful  fair  her  vacant  hand  extends 

With  gentle  motion,  anxious  to  survey 

How  far  the  feeling  fibres  own  her  sway : 

The  leaves,  as  conscious  of  their  queen's  command, 

Successive  fall  at  her  approaching  hand ; 

While  her  soft  breast  with  pity  seems  to  pant, 

And  shrinks  at  every  shrinking  of  the  plant.' 

In  1783,  Hayley  stayed  with  Romney  in  Cavendish  Square  for  the 
greater  part  of  January.  '  I  had  the  pleasure  of  finding  the  caro 
pittore  in  high  health  and  spirits,'  he  wrote  to  Eartham.  '  I  am  most 
comfortably  quartered,  as  I  feel  my  host  is  really  happy  in  his  visitor.' 
He  had  taken  with  him  two  newly  finished  plays,  but  on  his  attempt- 
ing to  read  them  at  a  dinner  party  which  included  Long,  Arnold,  and 
Meyer,  no  one  would  listen  to  them,  but  all  went  off  instead  to  see 
Mrs.  Siddons  in  Jane  Shore.  They  were  obliged,  however,  to  hear  the 
comedy  on  the  following  night,  and  on  another  evening,  Henderson, 
the  actor,  read  the  tragedy,  The  Ttvo  Connoisseurs,  for  the  happy 
author.  The  two  friends  seem  to  have  had  rather  a  gay  time,  and 
Romney  had  to  abandon  his  evening  work.  Other  visitors  were 
Carwardine,  Stephenson,  Steevens,  the  Shakespearean  scholar,  and 
Berridge,  who  brought  from  Derby  a  picture  of  Virgil's  Tomb,  as  a 
present  to  Hayley  from  Wright,  the  artist. 

Edward  Gibbon,  another  of  Hayley 's  literary  friends,  had  just 
returned  to  town,  and  was  induced  to  sit  to  Romney.  They  dined 
with  one  another  on  more  than  one  occasion.  '  We  are  this  instant 
returned  from  the  Roman  Eagle,'  Hayley  wrote  his  wife,  '  who  has 
proved  his  generous  and  imperial  spirit,  by  the  reception  he  gave  us. 
Romney  has  seized  him  most  happily  on  canvass,  and  I  have  been 
doubly  delighted  by  the  success  of  the  Caro  Pittore,  and  the  applause 
which  the  great  historian  has  bestowed  on  my  Two  Connoisseurs, 
which  I  recited  to  him  in  the  course  of  the  evening.' 

Steevens,  however,  who  breakfasted  with  them  a  day  or  two  later, 
was  not  so  pleased  with  the  picture.  '  You  would  have  thought  that 
all  the  brilliancy  of  his  genius  could  not  atone  for  the  malignant 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


sarcasms  which  he  levelled  at  the  new  portrait  of  Gibbon,  when  he 
heard  it  was  designed  for  me.' 

Gibbon  was  far  from  attractive  in  appearance.  In  youth,  accord- 
ing to  Lord  Sheffield,  he  was  '  a  thin  little  figure,  with  a  large  head, 
disputing  and  arguing,  with  the  greatest  ability ;  Mr.  Gibbon  became 
very  fat  and  corpulent,  but  he  had  uncommonly  small  bones,  and  was 
very  slightly  made ' ;  while  Colman  said  of  him,  '  his  mouth,  melli- 
fluous as  Plato's,  was  a  round  hole  nearly  in  the  centre  of  his  visage.' 
Romney  has  toned  down  these  characteristics  to  some  extent  in  his 
portrait,  but  the  stout  figure,  fat  double  chin,  and  round  chubby 
cheeks  are  all  in  evidence.  It  is  a  three-quarters  length,  seated  to  the 
left,  the  head  turned  slightly  towards  the  spectator.  He  wears  a 
white  wig,  a  rose-coloured  velvet  coat  with  a  deep  brown  fur  collar, 
grey  breeches  and  stockings,  and  white  cravat  and  ruffles.  His  left 
hand  rests  on  his  thigh,  and  his  right  is  stretched  over  the  table  in 
front  of  him,  the  index  finger  pointing  towards  three  books  inscribed 
Roman  History. 

It  is  a  fine  and  striking  portrait,  displaying  real  insight  into 
character,  and  a  proof,  if  such  be  wanted,  that  Romney  could  paint 
something  more  than  mere  handsome  youths.  There  is  nothing  raw 
in  the  colouring,  which  is  good  and  subdued,  in  general  tone  of  a  rich 
golden  brown,  nor  is  it  flimsy  or  meaningless  in  its  brush  work.  It 
was  lent  by  Lord  Beauchamp  to  the  Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibi- 
tion in  1894,  and  was  No.  30  in  the  exhibition  held  at  Oxford  in  1906. 
According  to  the  Oxford  catalogue  it  was  begun  in  January  1783, 
though  Hayley  did  not  receive  it  until  1787.  It  was  bought  in  at  the 
poet's  sale  in  1821  by  Captain  Godfrey,  from  whom  it  passed  to 
William,  second  Earl  Beauchamp. 

Sir  Joshua's  portrait  of  the  historian  was  exhibited  by  its  side  in 
the  last  named  exhibition,  a  half-length,  belonging  to  Lord  Sheffield, 
in  which  he  is  represented  in  almost  the  same  position,  but  with  the 
eyes  turned  to  the  left,  instead  of  towards  the  spectator,  and  wearing 
a  scarlet  coat,  also  trimmed  with  fur,  a  very  fine  and  rich  piece  of 
colouring.  As  a  study  of  character  it  goes  deeper  than  the  Romney, 
and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  fat,  bulging  cheeks  are  more  strongly 
emphasised,  while  the  little  round  button  of  a  mouth  is  very  prominent, 
there  is  more  of  the  nobility  and  less  of  the  grotesqueness  which 
mingled  in  Gibbon's  face. 

In  this  portrait,  in  Hayley 's  opinion,  the  painter  was  singularly 
happy,  though  he  failed  in  the  subordinate  parts  of  it ;  '  the  coun- 
130 


PORTRAITS   OF  1783 


tenance  is  exquisitely  painted ;  delicately  exact  in  resemblance  and 
truth  of  character.'  The  poet  preferred  it  to  the  one  by  Sir  Joshua, 
because  '  it  approaches  still  nearer  to  life  and  exhibits  more  faithfully 
the  social  spirit  of  Gibbon,'  but  adds  that,  with  the  exception  of  the 
face,  the  portrait  was  hastily  painted.  '  To  some  pictures  of  Romney, 
such  censure,  I  must  confess,  may  be  very  justly  applied ;  but  his 
failings  chiefly  arose  from  his  having  too  much  to  do,  and  not  from  a 
want  of  ability  to  do  better.  In  many  of  his  largest  portraits  and 
conversation  pieces,  when  he  could  find  the  time  to  study  the  scenery, 
and  meditate  on  all  that  he  wished  to  perform,  his  performance  proved 
him  a  master.' 

Hayley  was  back  again  at  Romney 's  for  a  flying  visit  in  August, 
mainly  for  the  purpose  of  helping  in  the  election  of  their  common 
friend,  William  Long,  who  was  a  candidate  for  the  post  of  surgeon  at 
St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital.  The  weather  was  intensely  hot,  and  one 
afternoon  and  evening  were  spent  with  Romney  and  Flaxman  in 
Westminster  Abbey.  On  another,  they  were  '  all  in  deep  consultation 
on  monuments,  chimney-pieces,  etc.,'  probably  for  Hay  ley's  new  library. 

Another  welcome  visitor  was  his  brother,  Captain  Romney,  who 
came  home  from  India  on  leave,  and  remained  in  England  during  the 
winter  of  1783-84,  spending  much  of  his  time  in  Cavendish  Square. 

Among  the  pictures  he  painted  in  1783  were  the  two  little  Thur- 
low  girls,  standing  at  a  spinnet ;  Lady  Brownlow  and  Master  Cust, 
one  of  the  few  pictures  he  has  dated,  which  was  exhibited  for  the  first 
time  in  the  Birmingham  Art  Gallery  in  1903,  together  with  the 
portrait  of  Sir  Brownlow  Cust,  both  lent  by  Lord  Brownlow ;  Lady 
Georgiana  Smith  and  her  child ;  the  two  daughters  of  Sir  Charles 
Kent ;  the  Earl  of  Derby,  a  whole  length,  with  a  horse ;  and  kitcats 
of  Lord  Chatham  and  Pitt,  the  first,  if  not  both,  for  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Wilson,  Lord  Chatham's  tutor.  The  '  Pitt'  remained  for  many  years 
in  his  studio,  with  the  head  only  finished.  '  It  was  the  finest  head  ever 
painted  of  Pitt,  both  for  strength  of  character,  and  individual  similitude. 
It  was  nearly  a  front  face,  which  rendered  it  more  difficult  to  catch 
the  likeness.'1  Romney  received  50  guineas  for  it,  '  but  from  whom  I 
do  not  know,'  says  his  son.  An  indifferent  mezzotint  by  John  Jones 
was  done  from  this  head  in  1789,  in  which  Pitt  was  represented  at 
half  length  in  his  robes  as  Chancellor  of  Exchequer.  The  picture 
itself  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Marquess  Camden. 

Hayley  was  again  staying  at  Cavendish  Square  in  May  1784,  when 

1  John  Romney,  page  194. 

131 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


his  play  of  Lord  Russel  was  produced  in  London  with  some  success  ; 
and  the  artist  paid  his  usual  annual  visit  to  Eartham  in  the  following 
autumn.  Flaxman  was  also  there,  for  the  purpose  of  fitting  up  the 
new  library,  which  had  been  built  in  1780,  'a  room  of  thirty  feet  by 
twenty-four,  filled  with  books  and  decorated  with  the  sculpture  of 
Flaxman,  and  the  painting  of  Romney ! '  The  sculptor  not  only 
superintended  this  work,  but  also  modelled  busts  of  his  host  and  fellow 
visitor.  The  former  was  a  commission  given  to  him  by  Romney,  and 
the  irrepressible  poet  penned  a  sonnet  upon  the  latter.  Flaxman,  after 
his  return  to  London,  wrote  to  Hayley — '  I  had  the  happiness  of  living 
such  a  fortnight  at  Eartham,  as  many  thousands  of  my  fellow-creatures 
go  out  of  the  world  without  enjoying.' 

Either  Hayley  is  incorrect  as  to  the  year  in  which  his  own  bust 
was  modelled,  or  Flaxman  made  a  second  one  ten  years  later,  for 
Romney  s  well-known  picture  of  the  sculptor  at  work  on  the  bust  of 
Hayley,  which  includes  portraits  of  his  host  and  his  son  Tom,  who 
became  Flaxman 's  pupil,  was  painted  in  1795-96,  after  Flaxman's 
return  from  Rome. 

The  friendship  between  the  young  sculptor  and  the  older  painter 
was  a  deep  and  sincere  one.  Flaxman  looked  up  to  Romney  with 
real  gratitude  as  one  who  had  encouraged  and  helped  him  in  his 
ambition  to  become  a  sculptor,  in  the  days  when  such  encouragement 
was  of  real  value. 

Flaxman  was  born  in  York  in  1755,  and  six  months  later  his 
father  moved  to  London  and  opened  a  shop  in  New  Street,  Covent 
Garden,  for  the  selling  of  plaster  casts  and  figures,  where  Romney, 
when  he  came  to  make  purchases,  used  to  find  the  frail  little  boy,  who 
could  only  walk  on  crutches,  seated  among  his  father's  wares,  drawing 
and  modelling  and  reading  Homer.  At  fifteen  Flaxman  entered  the 
Royal  Academy  Schools,  and  shortly  afterwards  was  working  as  a 
designer  for  Wedgwood.  He  married  Miss  Ann  Denham  in  1782, 
and  went  to  Rome  in  1787. 

The  presence  of  Flaxman  at  Eartham  induced  Romney  to  try  his 
hand  with  the  modelling  tools,  and  he  produced  a  small  recumbent 
figure  representing  '  Afflicted  Friendship,'  to  be  placed  on  a  sepulchral 
vase  in  a  grotto  in  the  garden,  in  memory  of  Hayley's  friend,  Thorn- 
ton. '  The  figure  was  elegant,'  says  the  poet,  '  and  its  expression 
powerfully  pathetic'  Romney  took  it  with  him  to  London  to  have  it 
fired,  but  it  shared  the  fate  of  so  many  of  his  efforts,  and  after  being 
put  on  one  side,  crumbled  to  pieces. 
132 


ROMNEY  AND   THE  ROYAL  ACADEMY 


It  was  during  this  visit  to  Eartham,  too,  that  he  began  a  picture  of 
a  little  girl  of  seven,  in  a  landscape,  kneeling  by  the  side  of  a  dead 
fawn,  which  had  been  struck  by  lightning.1  '  The  head  of  the  girl  is 
much  in  the  manner  of  Corregio,  and  her  sorrow  most  exquisitely 
expressed;  but  the  head  is  all  that  was  ever  completed,'  is  Hayley's 
criticism  of  it.  Romney  abandoned  it  because  he  could  not  obtain  the 
necessary  model  from  which  to  paint  the  animal. 

It  was  about  this  time,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  sequence  of 
Hayley's  book,  that  the  meeting  took  place  between  Meyer,  Romney, 
and  his  biographer,  at  which  the  latter  used  his  strongest  arguments  to 
dissuade  his  friend  from  seeking  to  become  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Academy — a  piece  of  stupid  interference  which  cannot  be  sufficiently 
blamed.  Meyer  was  most  anxious  that  Romney  should  join  the  body 
of  which  he  was  himself  a  member.  He  had  a  high  appreciation  of 
Romney 's  abilities,  so  high  indeed,  that  he  suggested  that  his  friend 
might  in  time  aspire  to  the  honour  of  the  Presidentship.  It  would,  no 
doubt,  have  been  an  excellent  thing  for  Romney  had  he  listened  to 
Meyer,  not  only  for  his  art,  but  also  because  it  would  have  helped  to 
break  down  the  reserve  which  marked  his  intercourse  with  the 
majority  of  his  fellow  artists,  and  to  lessen  the  suspicion  which  caused 
him  to  regard  most  of  them  as  his  enemies.  It  is  only  fair,  however, 
to  allow  Hayley  to  give  his  own  reasons  for  so  vigorously  combating 
the  suggestion.  '  I  must  confess,'  he  says,  '  that  I  took  an  opposite 
side  of  the  question,  and  used  the  many  arguments,  which  my  intimacy 
with  the  painter  suggested,  to  guard  him  against  the  incessant  dis- 
quietude and  vexation,  which  I  imagined  his  connexion  with  the 
Academy  must  inevitably  produce.  As  the  arguments  were  chiefly 
founded  on  the  mental  peculiarities  of  my  friend,  they  were  far  from 
evincing  any  sort  of  disrespect  towards  a  society,  which  is  justly 
entitled  to  national  regard.  I  may  yet  observe  how  subsequent  events 
afforded  me  reason  to  rejoice,  that  I  had  endeavoured  to  suppress,  and 
not  to  quicken  that  particular  ambition,  which  a  benevolent  artist, 
whom  I  sincerely  loved  and  admired,  had  wished  to  kindle  in  the 
bosom  of  our  friend.  If  Reynolds,  who  certainly  possessed,  in  a 
consummate  degree,  that  mild  wisdom,  and  conciliating  serenity  of 
temper,  which  Romney  as  certainly  wanted,  if  Reynolds  could  ever 
find  his  seat  of  dignity  (so  perfectly  merited)  a  thorny  situation,  that 
he  was  eager  to  relinquish,  the  more  apprehensive,  and  more  hasty 
spirit  of  Romney  would  have  been  utterly  distracted  in  a  post  so  ill 

1  See  page  268. 

133 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 

suited  to  a  mind  of  sensibilities  infinitely  too  acute  for  the  peaceful 
enjoyment  of  a  high  public  station.' 

Hayley  persuaded  himself  that  Romney  was  quite  in  accord  with 
this  appreciation  of  his  '  sensibilities.'  '  The  more  he  reflected  on  the 
peculiarities  of  his  own  disposition,'  we  are  told,  'the  more  he  was 
convinced,  that  the  comfort  of  his  life,  and  his  advancement  in  art, 
would  be  most  easily,  and  most  effectually  promoted  by  his  setting 
limits  to  his  passion  for  popular  applause,  and  confining  the  display  of 
his  works,  whether  portraits  or  fancy  pictures,  to  the  circle  of  his  own 
domestic  gallery,  which  gradually  became  a  favorite  scene  of  general 
resort.'  It  is  certainly  true  that  at  this  time  he  had  more  commissions 
than  he  could  undertake  with  justice  to  himself. 

In  1784  he  painted  the  portrait  of  David  Hartley,  Minister  Pleni- 
potentiary for  settling  the  terms  of  peace  with  America,  which  his 
son  notes  as  a  fine  work  ;  and,  among  others,  that  of  Mrs.  Russell,  wife 
of  Mr.,  afterwards  Sir  Henry,  Russell,  and  her  little  son,  in  which  she 
is  holding  the  child  on  a  table  in  order  that  he  may  look  at  himself  in 
a  mirror,  one  of  the  most  perfect  representations  of  a  mother  and  child 
among  the  many  fine  subjects  of  this  kind  which  he  accomplished  (see 
Plate  xii.);  Dr.  Barrington,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  in  his  robes  of  the 
Garter ;  and  Dr.  Farmer,  Master  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge. 

In  the  following  year  he  painted  a  charming  '  half-length  '  of  Mrs. 
Smith,  as  a  wood  nymph,  for  Sir  Simeon  Stuart.  This  picture  was 
left  on  Romney 's  hands,  and  it  was  not  until  six  years  later  that  the 
lady,  then  known  as  Mrs.  Selby,  paid  the  balance  of  the  money  and 
took  it  away.  '  She  was  represented  sitting  on  the  ground,'  says  the 
painter's  son,  '  and  playing  on  a  flageolet ;  her  hair  hung  beautifully 
over  her  forehead  in  spiral  ringlets,  and  her  drapery  was  of  a  pink 
colour,  simple  and  elegant,  after  the  Grecian  style.' 

This  picture,  which  measures  46  J  in.  x  58  in.,  was  lent  by  the 
Rev.  Canon  Phillpotts  to  the  Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibition 
in  1882,  under  the  title  of  '  Lady  Hamilton  '  (No.  247),  and  is  now  in 
the  collection  of  Miss  Alice  de  Rothschild.  It  is  a  small  full-length 
figure  reclining  beneath  a  tree,  turned  to  the  left,  in  red  and  blue 
drapery,  and  holding  a  shepherd's  pipe  in  her  hand.  Her  head  is 
turned  towards  the  spectator  over  her  left  shoulder,  both  shoulder  and 
arm  being  bare.  A  distant  landscape  fills  the  background.  It  was 
engraved  in  mezzotint  in  1906  under  the  erroneous  title  of  '  Lady 
Hamilton.' 
134 


PL  A  TE  XXI  'II 


MRS.  WILKRAHAM  liOOTLE 

IN   THE  COLLECTION  OF  THE  EARL  OF  LATHOM 

Page  2Qj 


PORTRAITS   OF   1785  AND  1786 


In  the  same  year  he  was  at  work  upon  the  portrait  of  the  beautiful 
Miss  Shakespeare,  afterwards  Mrs.  Oliver,  one  of  the  pictures  of  which 
John  Romney  makes  particular  mention  as  a  good  example  of  his 
father's  rapid  method  of  painting.  Some  time  after  sitting  she  wished 
to  have  her  baby  included  in  the  picture,  and  Romney  accordingly 
represented  it  sleeping  upon  her  lap,  completely  finishing  it  in 
half  an  hour, '  and  with  such  truth  of  nature  as  to  impress  the  spectator 
with  an  idea  of  hearing  it  respire.'  While  she  was  sitting,  he  received 
through  the  post  a  sonnet  in  its  praise,  beginning  '  How  great  thy  art, 
O  Romney  ! '  from  one  of  the  lady's  admirers,  signed  '  U.B.,'  and  dated 
October  17th,  1785. 

Among  his  other  portraits  of  1785  were  a  'three-quarters'  of 
Edmund  Burke ;  Mrs.  Boughton  Rouse,  a  fine  full-length,  painted 
before  the  lady  became  Lady  Rouse-Boughton  ; 1  Lady  Balgonie  and 
her  boy ;  Mrs.  Ford  and  child,  for  Governor  Johnstone  ;  Mrs.  and  Miss 
Beresford  ;  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Raikes.    (See  Plate  xm.) 

His  son  did  not  find  it  easy  to  give  a  precise  date  to  many  of 
his  'fancy'  subjects,  'because  they  were  generally  painted  at  stolen 
intervals,'  but  he  considered  '  The  Sempstress '  and  '  Absence,'  to  be  of 
about  this  period,  of  which  the  former,  a  portrait  of  Miss  Lucy  Vernon, 
as  already  noted,  was  bought  by  Admiral  Vernon,  while  the  other 
remained  in  the  biographer's  hands. 

Among  his  sitters  in  1786  may  be  mentioned  the  two  sons  of  Mr. 
Wilbraham  Bootle ; 2  Mrs.  Smith  and  child,  a  whole  length  which  went 
to  Carolina ;  the  Ladies  Caroline  and  Elizabeth  Spencer,  daughters  of 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  the  beautiful  picture  now  in  the  collection 
of  Mr.  C.  J.  Wertheimer,  and  known  as  '  Beauty  and  the  Arts ' ; 3  and 
Dr.  Law,  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  without  his  robes,  for  his  son,  Mr.  Edward 
Law  (Lord  Ellenborough),  which  appears  to  be  the  portrait  now  in 
Peterhouse  College,  Cambridge.  Romney  had  already  painted  him 
twice,  once  for  Sir  Thomas  Rumbold,  in  1777,  and  again  in  1783,  for 
his  son,  Dr.  John  Law,  Bishop  of  Clonfert.  Dr.  Law  was  a  fellow- 
countryman  of  his,  having  been  born  at  Buckcrag,  in  Cartmel,  about 
fifteen  miles  from  Romney 's  native  place.  In  this  year  he  also  painted 
Mrs.  Jordan  as  '  Peggy '  in  the  Country  Girl,  which  was  bought  by 
the  Duke  of  Clarence.  This  is  the  fine  full-length  in  which  she 
is  shown  moving  across  the  room,  looking  at  the  spectator  over  her 
shoulder,  her  hands  held  in  front  of  her  with  fingers  spread  out  and 

1  Exhibited  in  the  Birmingham  Art  Gallery,  1897. 

2  See  page  295.  3  See  Plate  xiv. 

135 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


pressed  together  at  the  tips.  There  are  at  least  three  versions  of  this 
picture  in  existence,  all  from  Romney's  own  brush,  in  the  collections 
of  Sir  Edward  Tennant,  the  late  Baron  Ferdinand  de  Rothschild,  and 
Lord  Falkland  respectively.  The  last-named  was  lent  to  the  second 
Romney  Exhibition,  1901,  No.  16.  John  Ogborne  engraved  this 
picture  in  stipple  in  1788. 


136 


XIV 


IN  the  spring  of  1786  Romney  lost  his  beautiful  model.  It  is 
impossible  to  speak  without  contempt  of  Charles  Greville's 
method  of  ridding  himself  of  a  mistress,  to  whom  he  was  closely 
attached,  when  the  state  of  his  finances  became  too  embarrassed  to 
allow  him  to  keep  up  the  modest  establishment  at  Paddington  Green. 
His  maternal  uncle,  Sir  William  Hamilton,  English  ambassador  at  the 
Court  of  Naples,  and  only  two  years  a  widower,  coming  home  on  leave 
of  absence  in  1784,  had  been  greatly  fascinated  by  the  lady's  loveliness, 
and  two  years  afterwards  showed  little  hesitation  in  listening  to 
Greville's  cold-blooded  suggestion  that  he  should  take  her  off  his  hands. 
This  is  not  the  place  in  which  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the 
complex  reasons  which  gradually  influenced  the  prudent  Greville  to 
take  this  course.  They  were  largely  financial  ones.  Sir  William  had 
intimated  to  his  nephew  that  he  might  regard  himself  as  his  heir ;  but 
there  was  nothing  to  prevent  his  uncle  marrying  again.  A  close 
attachment  to  the  fair  Emma  might,  however,  prevent  fresh  matri- 
monial designs  on  the  part  of  the  older  man.  Greville's  own  inclinations, 
too,  were  turning  towards  a  wife  as  a  way  out  of  his  difficulties.  The 
lady  he  thought  might  suit  him  was  Lord  Middleton's  youngest 
daughter;  in  the  end,  however,  he  died  a  bachelor.  He  cautiously 
unmasked  his  batteries  in  a  series  of  letters  to  Naples,  ending  with 
one  of  brutal  frankness  which  had  the  desired  effect,  Hamilton,  his 
senior  by  twenty  years,  readily  acquiescing  in  his  plans. 

Sir  William,  who  was  a  connoisseur  of  the  fine  arts,  and  posed  as 
a  judge  of  beautiful  things,  pronounced  Emma  to  be  '  better  than 
anything  in  nature.  In  her  particular  way  she  is  finer  than  anything 
that  is  to  be  found  in  antique  art/  Between  them,  by  playing  upon 
her  fondness  for  music,  they  persuaded  her  that  a  few  months  spent  in 
study  in  Italy  would  be  to  her  great  advantage,  and  she  accordingly 
set  out  on  March  14th,  with  her  mother,  *  Mrs.  Cadogan,'  and  Gavin 
Hamilton,  the  antiquary,  who  acted  as  escort.  She  went  in  the  full 
belief  that  her  visit  was  to  be  a  short  one,  and  that  Greville  intended 

137 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


to  marry  her.  He  himself  promised  to  join  her  in  the  following 
October  for  this  purpose,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  if  she  had 
known  that  he  meant  the  parting  to  be  a  final  one,  she  would  have 
refused  to  go.  On  arriving  in  Naples,  the  elaborate  preparations  made 
by  Sir  William  for  her  comfort,  and  the  warmth  of  his  welcome  and 
his  attentions,  roused  her  suspicions,  and  the  quick-witted  girl  soon 
divined  to  what  base  plot  she  had  been  a  victim.  The  letters  she 
wrote  to  Greville  during  the  next  fourteen  weeks,  are  ample  proof 
that  she  was  deeply  in  love  with  him,  and  almost  frantic  for  him  to 
hasten  to  her  side  to  free  her  from  the  embarrassment  of  his  uncle's 
solicitations. 

'  I  feel  more  and  more  unhappy  at  being  separated  from  you,'  she 
wrote,  '  and  if  my  fatal  ruin  depends  on  seeing  you,  I  will  and  must  at 
the  end  of  the  sumer.  For  to  live  without  you  is  imposible.  I  love 
you  to  that  degree  that  at  this  time  there  is  not  a  hardship  upon  hearth 
either  of  poverty,  cold,  death,  or  even  to  walk  barefooted  to  Scotland 
to  see  you,  but  what  I  wou'd  undergo.  Therefore  my  dear,  dear 
Greville,  if  you  do  love  me,  for  my  sake,  try  all  you  can  to  come  hear 
as  soon  as  posible.  ...  I  respect  Sir  William.  .  .  .  But  he  can  never 
be  anything  nearer  to  me  than  your  uncle  and  my  sincere  friend.  He 
never  can  be  my  lover.  You  do  not  know  how  good  Sir  William  is 
to  me.    He  is  doing  everything  he  can  to  make  me  happy.' 

And  again,  a  month  or  two  later : — '  I  am  now  onely  writing  to 
beg  of  you  for  God's  sake  to  send  me  one  letter,  if  it  is  onely  a 
farewell.  Sure  I  have  deserved  this  for  the  sake  of  the  love  you  once 
had  for  me.  ...  1  have  been  from  you  going  of  six  months,  and  you 
have  wrote  one  letter  to  me,  enstead  of  which  I  have  sent  fourteen 
to  you.  So  pray  let  me  beg  of  you,  my  much  loved  Greville,  only 
one  line  from  your  dear,  dear  hands.  ...  I  find  life  is  insuportable 
without  you.  Oh  !  my  heart  is  intirely  broke.  Then  for  God's  sake, 
my  ever  dear  Greville,  do  write  to  me  some  comfort.  I  don't  know 
what  to  do.  I  am  now  in  that  state,  I  am  incapable  of  anything.  .  .  . 
I  am  poor,  helpless,  and  forlorn.  I  have  lived  with  you  5  years,  and 
you  have  sent  me  to  a  strange  place,  and  no  one  prospect  but  thinking 
you  was  coming  to  me.  Enstead  of  which  I  was  told  to  live,  you 
know  how,  with  Sir  William.  No,  I  respect  him,  but,  no,  never  shall 
he  peraps  live  with  me  for  a  little  while,  like  you,  and  send  me  to 
England.  What  is  to  become  of  me  ?  But  excuse  me,  my  heart  is 
ful.  I  tel  you  give  me  one  guiney  a  week  for  everything,  and  live 
with  me,  and  I  will  be  contented.' 
138 


GRE  VILLE'S   DESERTION   OF  EMMA 

Greville  only  wrote  to  her  once,  and  then,  after  a  long  silence,  she 
received  a  second  letter  from  him  early  in  August,  in  which  he  advised 
her  to  yield  to  Sir  William's  suit.  Entreaties  having  failed,  and 
feeling  that  she  had  entirely  lost  his  affection,  she  resorted  to  threats. 
'As  to  what  you  write  to  me  to  oblidge  Sir  William,'  she  replied 
in  anger,  '  I  will  not  answer  you.  For  oh,  if  you  knew  what  pain 
I  feel  in  reading  those  lines.  .  .  .  Nothing  can  express  my  rage !  I 
am  all  madness !  Greville  to  advise  me  !  you  that  used  to  envy  my 
smiles  !  Now  with  cool  indifference  to  advise  me  thus.  Oh  that,  worst 
of  all!  But  I  will  not,  no,  I  will  not  rage.  If  I  was  with  you,  I 
would  murder  you,  and  myself  too.  Nothing  shall  ever  do  for  me  but 
going  home  to  you.  If  that  is  not  to  be,  I  will  except  nothing.  I 
will  go  to  London,  their  go  into  every  excess  of  vice  till  I  dye.  My 
fate  is  a  warning  to  young  whomen  never  to  be  two  good.  For  now 
you  have  made  me  love  you,  you  have  made  me  good ;  you  have 
abandoned  me,  and  some  violent  end  shall  finish  our  connexion,  if  it 
is  to  finish.  But  oh,  Greville,  you  cannot,  you  must  not  give  me  up. 
You  have  not  the  heart  to  do  it.  You  love  me  T  am  sure ;  and  I 
am  willing  to  do  everything  in  my  power- — and  what  will  you  have 
more?  and  I  only  say  this  for  the  last  time.  I  will  neither  beg 
nor  pray.  Do  as  you  like.'  Then  in  a  postscript  she  added : — 
'  It  is  not  your  interest  to  disoblige  me,  for  you  don't  know  the 
power  I  have  hear.  Onely  1  will  never  be  his  mistress.  If  you 
affront  me,  I  will  make  him  marry  me.'  Even  this  serious  threat, 
for  Greville  was  heir  to  his  uncle,  and  his  only  chance  of  a  substantial 
income  was  in  succeeding  to  Sir  William's  property,  failed  in  its  effect, 
and  in  the  following  November  Emma  gave  way  to  the  continual 
pressure  brought  upon  her,  and  became  the  ambassador's  mistress, 
with  the  fixed  intention  of  inducing  him  to  make  her  Lady  Hamilton 
as  soon  as  possible.  There  is  no  need,  in  a  life  of  Romney,  to  tell 
in  detail  this  sordid,  pitiful  story ;  but  throughout  these  first  few 
months  of  doubt  and  anxiety,  when  the  suspicion  of  Greville's  base 
desertion  of  her  gradually  became  a  certainty,  she  could  have  little 
time  or  inclination  to  give  to  thoughts  of  the  happy  hours  spent  in 
the  London  studio,  which  her  presence  had  filled  with  glamour  and 
inspiration  for  the  painter. 

Sir  William  wrote  to  ask  Romney  and  Hayley  to  visit  him  in 
Naples,  hoping  that  their  presence,  and  the  happy  business  of  once 
more  sitting  almost  daily  to  her  favourite  painter,  would  help  to 
reconcile  her  to  her  position ;  but  neither  of  them  was  able  to  accept 

189 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


the  invitation,  though,  no  doubt,  Romney  would  have  been  only  too 
glad  to  have  gone  had  it  been  possible. 

Two  years  later,  Greville,  writing  to  Romney  on  August  8th, 
1788,  with  reference  to  his  own  and  Sir  William  Hamilton's  account 
for  pictures,  tells  the  painter  that  '  I  heard  last  week  from  Mrs.  Hart, 
she  desired  me  to  tell  you  that  she  hoped  to  captivate  you  by  her 
voice  next  spring,  and  that  few  things  interest  her  more  than  the 
remembrance  which  you  and  Mr.  Hay  ley  honour  her  with.' 

Very  happily  for  Romney's  peace  of  mind,  his  thoughts  were 
busily  occupied,  shortly  after  her  departure,  with  the  details  of  an 
undertaking  which  he  felt  confident  would  provide  him  with  a 
magnificent  opportunity  for  the  full  display  of  his  talents,  in  what 
he  regarded  as  a  far  higher  field  of  art  than  mere  portraiture.  This 
was  Alderman  Boydell's  ambitious  project  of  a  '  Shakespeare  Gallery,' 
to  consist  of  a  complete  illustration  of  the  whole  of  the  plays  by 
the  leading  artists  of  the  day,  into  which  the  painter  threw  himself 
heart  and  soul  in  the  winter  of  1786.  '  His  enthusiasm  in  favour 
of  that  undertaking  was  at  one  time  so  great,'  says  his  son,  '  that 
he  would  have  painted  gratis  rather  than  that  it  should  not  have 
taken  place.' 

There  is  some  dispute,  and  some  uncertainty,  as  to  whom  the 
origin  of  the  scheme  was  due.  John  Romney  asserts  emphatically 
that  his  father,  who  was  then  at  work  on  a  picture  from  The  Tempest, 
was  the  first  to  suggest  the  Gallery  to  the  Boydells.  '  The  idea 
of  it  originated  from  himself  individually ;  he  had  often  ruminated 
upon  it  in  his  solitary  hours ;  for  he  had  always  regarded  Shakspeare 
as  an  author  abounding  in  those  picturesque  conceptions  and  repre- 
sentations which  may  be  so  easily  transferred  to  the  canvass  by  an 
imaginative  painter.  But  at  a  dinner  given  by  Mr.  Josiah  Boydell, 
at  Westend,  in  1787,  when  Shakspeare  became  the  topic  of  conversa- 
tion (induced  probably  by  the  circumstances  of  Mr.  Romney's  being 
at  that  time  engaged  in  painting  The  Tempest,  in  which  Mr.  Hayley 
had  sat  as  the  model  for  Prospero,) — he  with  his  usual  ardour  and 
enthusiasm,  then  gave  utterance  to  his  conceptions,  and  suggested 
the  plan  of  a  National  Gallery  of  pictures  painted  from  that  great 
dramatist,  which  would  be  both  honourable  to  the  country,  and  to 
the  poet,  and  contribute  essentially  to  the  advancement  of  historical 
painting.  The  idea  being  in  unison  with  the  feelings  of  the  company, 
was  received  with  rapture.'  Hayley  gives  the  date  of  this  Hampstead 
dinner  as  Saturday,  November  4th,  1786.  The  guests  included  West, 
140 


BO  YD  ELL'S  'SHAKESPEARE  GALLERY' 


Hayley,  Paul  Sandby,  Hoole,  the  translator  of  Ariosto,  Daniel 
Braithwaite,  George  Nicol,  and  Romney.  Nicol  also  claimed  to  be 
the  originator  of  the  scheme,  but  John  Romney  infers  that  he  had  no 
right  to  this  honour,  and  that  he  merely  suggested  that  it  should  take 
the  form  of  a  fine  edition  of  the  plays  illustrated  with  engravings 
from  the  pictures  which  were  to  form  the  Gallery. 

Hayley 's  account  does  not  agree  at  all  points  with  this.  He 
asserts  that  the  plan  was  first  mooted  by  the  Alderman  himself 
during  a  conversation  in  Romney's  house  at  which  Hayley  was  present. 
'  The  professional,  and  the  patriotic  enthusiasm  of  the  painter  kindled 
at  the  first  mention  of  the  idea;  and  he  immediately  offered,  in  the 
most  liberal  manner,  to  devote  whatever  powers  he  might  possess 
to  a  friendly  promotion  of  a  project,  that  could  hardly  fail  to  interest 
every  lover  of  the  arts  and  of  England.  At  the  same  time  he 
generously  suggested  to  the  sanguine  projector,  the  perils,  which 
might  attend  the  conduct  of  an  enterprise  so  important.  He  thought 
the  painters  ought  to  shew  their  liberality,  and  public  spirit,  by 
working,  in  support  of  such  an  undertaking,  without  any  prospect 
of  great  emolument;  he  named  a  moderate  sum  for  pictures  of  the 
largest  size ;  a  sum,  which  however  inadequate  it  might  appear  to 
the  labour,  he  declared  he  should  himself  be  willing  to  accept  on  the 
occasion,  if  generally  established  among  all  the  artists  of  eminence.' 

Again,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  R.  V.  Sadleir  in  December  1786, 
Hayley  asks  : — '  Have  you  observed  the  noble  project  now  in  agitation, 
for  the  honour  of  Shakespeare,  and  the  encouragement  of  historical 
painting  ?  I  had  the  pleasure  of  being  a  little  instrumental  in  setting 
this  noble  idea  afloat.  But  it  is  to  our  dear  Romney,  that  England 
is  chiefly  indebted  for  a  scheme  that  promises,  I  think,  to  reflect  great 
honour  on  our  country.  I  will  tell  you  all  the  private  history  of  the 
project's  formation  when  I  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you.' 

According  to  Allan  Cunningham,  the  original  idea  of  the  gallery 
has  been  claimed  at  different  times  for  Fuseli,  West,  Romney, 
Nichol,  and  Boydell,  and  he  states  that  the  first-named  declared 
that  it  occurred  to  his  fancy  as  he  gazed  on  the  wonders  of  the 
Vatican. 

Shortly  after  the  meeting  at  Westend,  John  Romney  was  present 
at  a  second  dinner  held  to  discuss  the  project,  when  several  artists 
were  among  the  guests,  including  Westall  and  Farington.  Sir  Joshua, 
he  says,  had  been  invited  to  co-operate,  but  was  hanging  back,  on 
account  of  Romney's  connection  with  it.    However,  he  was  not  proof 

141 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


against  an  offer  of  one  thousand  guineas,  half  paid  in  advance,  for 
a  picture  from  '  Macbeth.'  West  got  the  same  amount  for  his  '  King 
Lear,'  whereas  Romney  only  asked  six  hundred  for  '  The  Tempest,' 
and  afterwards  gave  the  Boydells  '  The  Infant  Shakespeare  attended 
by  the  Passions '  for  nothing.  '  He  was  not  even  paid  this  sum  till 
many  years  after.  By  withdrawing  his  labour  from  portraiture  to  the 
performance  of  this  picture  (The  Tempest)  he  lost  more  than  two 
thousand  guineas.  Not  to  mention  the  waste  of  much  valuable  time 
and  labour  expended  in  preparing  other  pictures,  which  were  rendered 
frustrate  by  the  hasty  completion  of  the  Gallery.  His  enthusiasm, 
however,  soon  began  to  cool  when  he  discovered  that  the  Boydells 
were  making  a  commercial  speculation  of  it,  which  was  in  fact  the 
cause  of  its  failure.'1 

Some  kind  of  dispute  certainly  arose  as  to  the  payment  of  Romney 's 
share  in  the  undertaking.  Although  quite  prepared  to  accept  the  more 
moderate  sum  for  his  contributions,  he  felt  some  natural  indignation 
that  Reynolds  and  certain  others  should  be  rewarded  on  a  much  more 
liberal  scale.  His  protests  did  not  arise  so  much  from  a  mere  love  of 
money,  as  from  wounded  pride  at  what  he  considered  to  be  a  slight  put 
upon  his  art. 

If  Hayley,  who  continually  dwells  on  the  ultra-sensitiveness  of 
Romney's  nature,  is  to  be  believed,  the  possibilities  of  this  important 
undertaking  threw  him  into  'great  agitation.'  '  He  had  long  expressed 
a  very  anxious  wish  to  find  some  promising  field,  in  which  he  might 
endeavour  to  obtain  distinction  in  the  higher  province  of  his  art,'  he 
writes.  About  this  time  Reynolds  had  received  a  commission  to  paint 
a  picture  for  the  Empress  of  Russia,  and  had  produced  for  the  purpose 
his  'Infant  Hercules.'  Hayley  urged  Romney  to  beat  his  rival  in 
the  same  field,  suggesting  that  he  should  choose  some  subject  from 
the  life  of  Peter  the  Great,  and  send  the  work  as  a  present  to  St. 
Petersburg. 

Romney,  whose  imagination  was  always  easily  excited  by  such 
suggestions,  at  once  proceeded  to  plan  out  the  picture ;  but,  as  had 
so  often  happened,  the  impetus  soon  died  away,  and,  his  commissions 
for  portraits  standing  in  the  way,  the  scheme  came  to  nothing.  The 
idea  of  painting  from  his  favourite,  Shakespeare,  was  much  more  allur- 
ing to  his  spirit,  for  he  always  professed  the  greatest  admiration  for 
the  plays,  though,  if  Hayley  is  to  be  believed,  he  was  so  desultory  a 

1  John  Romney,  p.  152. 

142 


HIS  SHAKESPEAREAN  SUBJECTS 


reader  that  it  is  doubtful  if  he  ever  perused  two  consecutive  acts  of 
one  of  them  without  interruption.  He  could  only  display  concentra- 
tion when  his  art  was  in  question.  In  reading  or  writing  his  attention 
was  rapidly  exhausted,  and  his  mind  became  fatigued ;  and  he  had, 
according  to  the  same  source,  an  intense  dislike  to  the  mere  manual 
act  of  writing,  which  is  '  the  more  to  be  regretted,  because  he  had  a 
fund  of  original  ideas  relating  to  his  own  art,  and  also  such  an  uncommon 
energy  of  mind,  that,  with  a  moderate  application  to  the  pen,  he  might 
have  rendered  himself  a  writer  of  very  powerful  eloquence.' 

By  the  spring  of  1787,  Romney  had  thought  out  a  number  of 
subjects  for  the  Boydell  Gallery.  He  had  progressed  so  far  with  the 
designs  for  some  of  them  that  they  were  ready  to  be  transferred  to 
canvas.  Among  these  were,  '  The  Banquet,'  and  the  '  Cavern  Scene  ' 
from  Macbeth,  and  the  subject  from  the  first  act  of  The  Tempest. 
Others  he  had  actually  begun  to  paint,  such  as  '  Mrs.  Ford  and  Mrs. 
Page,'  from  the  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  in  which  the  heads  were 
finished ;  while  he  had  also  made  great  progress  with  another  represent- 
ing '  Margery  Jourdain  and  Bolingbroke  conjuring  up  the  Fiend,'  but 
in  this  last  he  was  anticipated  by  Opie.  These  two  incomplete  works 
perished  through  exposure  to  the  weather  during  the  first  winter  after 
he  had  removed  to  his  Hampstead  house,  together  with  many  other 
canvases,  which,  owing  to  want  of  room  indoors,  were  stacked  away 
in  an  open  corridor.  Another  Shakespearean  picture  he  worked  upon 
at  this  time  was  '  Lady  Hamilton  in  the  character  of  the  Maid  of 
Orleans,'  which  was  intended  to  be  a  companion  to  his  'Cassandra.' 
This  was  bought  in  its  unfinished  state  at  the  sale  of  his  pictures  by 
one  of  his  pupils,  Thomas  Stewardson. 

In  the  beginning  he  was  full  of  enthusiasm  for  the  scheme,  and 
planned  other  pictures  in  addition  to  those  mentioned,  but  when  his 
first  ardour  had  a  little  cooled,  his  over-sensitive,  suspicious  nature  came 
into  play,  and  conjured  up  difficulties  which  he  had  not  the  strength  of 
mind  to  overcome.  '  When  he  perceived,'  says  John  Romney,  '  that  it 
was  the  intention  of  the  Boydells  to  employ  the  older  and  established 
masters  no  more  than  was  sufficient  to  give  an  impulse  to  the  under- 
taking, and  to  complete  it  by  the  works  of  young  artists  for  low 
prices  : — that  extraordinary  haste  was  used  to  bring  it  to  a  conclusion, 
so  that,  instead  of  having  some  attractive  novelties  every  year  to  keep 
alive  the  public  interest,  the  whole  display  was  made  nearly  at  once ; — 
and  that,  in  consequence,  indifference  on  the  part  of  the  public  was 
already  beginning  to  shew  itself — he  directed  his  attention  to  other 

143 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


objects,  regretting  that  disinterestedness  and  liberality  were  qualities 
little  appreciated  among  dealers  and  speculators.' 

In  addition  to  his  'Tempest '  picture,  he  intended  to  paint  a  second 
subject  from  the  same  play,  but  this  purpose  was  never  carried  out. 
This  was  due  in  part  to  his  relations  with  the  Boydells,  which  had 
become  a  little  strained,  and  also  to  his  inability  to  work  at  the  speed 
they  demanded,  which  in  no  way  suited  his  methods,  except  in  the  case 
of  portraits.  The  passage  selected  was  from  the  end  of  the  first  act, 
where  Prospero  exclaims  to  Miranda  : 

'  Hence  ;  hang  not  on  my  garments/ 

including  Ariel's  song,  '  Come  unto  these  yellow  sands.' 

John  Romney  describes  this  picture  with  a  filial  exaggeration  of 
praise  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  merits  of  the  'rapid  and  dashing 
Sketch  '  which  was  all  that  his  father  made.  If  this,  he  was  of  opinion, 
'  had  been  enlarged  into  a  picture,  and  finished  in  his  usual  style  of 
painting,  it  would  have  been  one  of  the  finest  pictures  in  the  world. 
No  fancy-subject  could  be  more  finely  conceived,  and  in  the  execution 
there  is  no  doubt  but  it  would  have  displayed  all  that  playfulness  and 
witchery  of  character,  and  that  fantastic  grace,  which  his  fine  taste,  and 
exquisite  feeling  enabled  him  so  well  to  communicate  to  his  Fairy- 
figures.'    It  was  to  be  painted  in  the  manner  of  Correggio.1 

Prospero  and  Miranda  were  placed  on  the  left  of  the  picture,  the 
former  with  his  back  to  the  spectator,  his  face  in  profile,  and  his  right 
arm  raised  above  his  head,  pointing  towards  Ariel  and  his  fellow 
sprites  among  the  clouds.  'In  his  whole  person  there  is  an  almost 
supernatural  dignity  and  grandeur :  and  in  his  countenance,  which  is 
directed  towards  Ferdinand,  is  depicted  a  mild  and  placid  gravity, 
combined  with  an  assumed  austerity.  Miranda,  with  her  breast  and 
shoulders  bare,  hangs  suppliant  on  her  father's  garments  in  the  most 
bewitching  attitude.  .  .  .  Her  hair  is  loosely  braided  round  her  head, 
and  in  its  redundance,  hangs  floating  in  the  air.  She  gazes  with 
admiration  and  tenderness  on  Ferdinand,  who  is  placed  somewhat 
to  the  right  from  the  centre  of  the  picture.  He  is  seminude,  by 
which  his  fine  muscular  form  is  seen  to  advantage.  .  .  .  and  as  he 
advances  up  the  beach,  is  at  that  moment  arrested  by  the  rebuke 
of  Prospero.  It  was  Mr.  Romney 's  intention  to  have  exerted  all 
his  powers,  both  in  colour  and  design,  in  the  representation  of  this 

1  See  page  78. 

144 


CAREER  OF  BOYDELL 


manly  figure.'  Beyond  him  a  group  of  fairies  was  shown  dancing  on 
the  yellow  sands. 

The  history  of  the  Shakespeare  Gallery  may  be  sketched  briefly 
here ;  Romney's  work  for  it  will  be  spoken  of  in  greater  detail  later 
on.  John  Boydell  was  the  maker  of  his  own  fortunes.  As  a  youth 
he  was  so  attracted  by  the  fine  arts  that  he  left  home,  walked  on 
foot  from  Shropshire  to  London,  and  entered  as  a  student  in  the 
St.  Martin's  Lane  Academy,  and  afterwards  became  apprenticed  to 
W.  H.  Toms,  the  engraver.  In  1741  he  began  to  publish  a  series  of 
views  in  and  about  London,  drawn  and  engraved  by  himself.  The 
size  was  folio  and  the  price,  one  shilling,  was  engraved  on  the  margin 
of  each  plate.  The  encouragement  bestowed  on  these  works  by  the 
public  induced  Boydell  to  extend  his  plan,  until  it  comprised  views 
throughout  England  and  W ales.  This  undertaking  was  a  great  success, 
and  it  was  to  it  that  the  future  Alderman  owed  the  fortune  and  fame 
he  afterwards  acquired. 

He  soon  enlarged  the  scope  of  his  enterprise,  employing  other 
engravers  on  plates  after  pictures  by  the  old  masters,  as  well  as 
works  by  the  leading  painters  of  the  day,  which  soon  had  not  only  a 
wide  sale  at  home,  but  were  in  great  demand  abroad.  The  Shake- 
speare Gallery  was  to  be  the  crown  and  glory  of  his  career,  and  it 
started  with  every  sign  of  success  and  popular  approval.  Almost  all 
the  best  painters  contributed  to  it,  and  Richard  Cumberland  pro- 
claimed its  merits  in  the  pages  of  his  Observer,  in  the  guise  of  a 
translation  from  a  Greek  manuscript,  in  which  he  praises  Romney, 
'  this  modest  painter,'  under  the  name  of  Timanthes.  Sixty-five 
pictures  had  been  engraved  for  it  by  1791,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
two  by  1802.  The  scale  of  payment  was  liberal  for  those  days,  and  a 
gallery  was  built  on  purpose  for  the  exhibition  of  the  pictures  in  Pall 
Mall.  Boydell,  in  his  preface  to  the  catalogue  published  in  1789, 
says  : — '  In  the  progress  of  the  fine  Arts,  though  foreigners  have  allowed 
our  lately  acquired  superiority  of  engraving,  and  readily  admitted  the 
great  talents  of  the  principal  painters,  yet  they  have  said,  with  some 
severity,  and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  with  some  truth,  that  the  abilities  of 
our  best  artists  are  chiefly  employed  in  painting  portraits  of  those  who 
in  less  than  half  a  century,  will  be  lost  in  oblivion,  while  the  noblest 
part  of  the  art,  historical  painting,  is  much  neglected.  To  obviate 
this  national  reflection  was  the  principal  cause  of  the  present  under- 
taking.' 

The  estimation  in  which  Boydell  was  held  by  many  of  the  painters 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


who  worked  for  him  is  to  be  found  in  numerous  contemporary  refer- 
ences. Northcote,  in  one  of  his  letters,  says  : — '  My  picture  of  '  The 
Death  of  Wat  Tyler'  was  painted  in  the  year  1786  for  my  friend  and 
patron  Alderman  Boydell,  who  did  more  for  the  advancement  of  the 
arts  in  England  than  the  whole  mass  of  nobility  put  together.  He  paid 
me  more  nobly  than  any  other  person  has  done ;  and  his  memory  I 
shall  ever  hold  in  reverence.' 

Northcote  was  another  claimant,  at  least  indirectly,  for  the  honour 
of  first  suggesting  the  great  Shakespeare  Gallery  scheme.  '  About  this 
time,'  he  says, '  it  was  that  Alderman  Boydell's  grand  scheme  of  making 
the  Shakspere  Gallery  and  publishing  that  magnificent  edition  was 
set  on  foot,  when  I  was  immediately  employed  very  considerably  in 
that  work,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  number  of  the  prints  from  my 
pictures  for  that  collection.  It  will  also  appear  in  what  rank  I  stand 
as  to  my  abilities  as  an  artist. 

'  However,  one  of  the  principal  pictures  of  mine,  that  of  the 
"  Murder  of  the  Princes  in  the  Tower,"  was  painted  previously  to 
this  scheme  and  had  been  some  little  time  in  Boydell's  possession 
before  the  splendid  edition  of  Shakspere  had  been  thought  upon. 
This  picture  had  been  publicly  exhibited  at  his  house  in  Cheapside, 
and  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  this  very  picture  first  suggested  the 
scheme  to  their  minds,  as  it  had  been  greatly  noticed  and  admired. 
It  was  the  first  picture  that  the  Boydells  ever  had  of  me,  and  they 
had  bespoke  a  companion  to  it  when  they  first  informed  me  of  the 
Shakspere  plan.' 

But  the  great  scheme,  which  was  to  do  so  much  for  historical  paint- 
ing in  England,  was  doomed  to  failure,  largely  owing  to  the  sudden  and 
almost  complete  cessation  of  any  foreign  market  for  the  engravings 
brought  about  by  the  French  Revolution.  Boydell's  financial  diffi- 
culties grew  acute,  and  in  1804  he  was  obliged  to  ask  Parliament  to 
give  its  sanction  to  the  disposal  of  his  property  by  lottery.  In  a  letter 
read  to  the  House  of  Commons,  he  stated  that  he  had  laid  out  more 
than  £350,000  '  in  promoting  the  commerce  of  the  fine  arts  in  this 
country,'  some  £30,000  of  which  had  been  spent  on  the  Shakespeare 
Gallery. 

So  rapid  was  the  sale  of  the  lottery  tickets,  that,  on  the  day  of  the 
Alderman's  death,  December  12th,  1804,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five,  not 
one  of  the  twenty-two  thousand  of  them  remained  unsold.  The  principal 
prize — the  Shakespeare  Gallery — was  won  by  Tassie,  the  gem  modeller, 
146 


PLATE  XXIX 


MR.  WILBRAHAM  HOOTLE 

IN   THE  COLLECTION  OF  THE  EARL  OF  LATHOM 

Page  2Q5 


PLATE  XXX 


DISPERSAL  OF  THE  SHAKESPEARE  GALLERY 


who  sold  the  property  by  auction  on  May  17th,  1805,  and  the  two 
following  days.  The  prices  fetched  by  Romney's  pictures  at  this  sale 
compare  very  favourably  with  those  given  for  the  works  of  most  of 
the  other  artists.  Charles  Greville  gave  £.53  1  Is.  0d.,  for  '  Cassandra 
Raving,'  and  John  Green  £52  10s.  Od.  for  '  Prospero  and  Miranda,' 
while  Michael  Bryan  paid  £65  2s.  Od.  for  '  The  Infant  Shakespeare 
attended  by  Nature  and  the  Passions.'  On  the  first  day,  '  The  Forest 
of  Arden,  with  the  wounded  Stag,'  given  in  the  catalogue  to  William 
Hodges,  but  said  to  have  been  painted  by  Hodges,  Romney,1  and 
Gilpin  in  conjunction,  was  knocked  down  to  Sir  Charles  Burrell  for 
£78  15s.  Od.  Reynolds'  pictures  went  for  the  largest  amounts,  '  The 
Death  of  Cardinal  Beaufort'  for  £530  5s.  Od.,  'Macbeth  and  the 
Witches,'  £378,  and  '  Puck,  or  Robin  Goodfellow,'  £215  5s.  Od.  ;  and 
examples  by  West  and  Northcote  fetched  two  or  three  times  the  sums 
given  for  Romney's  contributions  to  the  Gallery.  The  only  piece  of 
sculpture  in  the  collection,  '  The  Apotheosis  of  Shakespeare,'  by  Banks, 
for  which  Boydell  had  paid  five  hundred  guineas,  was  reserved  by 
Tassie,  and  given  by  him  to  be  placed  as  a  monument  on  the  Alder- 
man's tomb. 

1  Hayley  sat  for  the  figure  of  Jaques,  Romney's  sole  share  in  the  picture. 


147 


XV 


IN  the  spring  of  1787  Hayley  found  his  usual  room  at  Cavendish 
Square  occupied  by  John  Romney,  who  was  recovering  from  a 
severe  illness,  and  so  was  obliged  to  take  shelter  with  his  friend 
Clyfford,  the  singer,  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields.  He  and  Romney  used 
to  meet  at  breakfast  every  morning,  between  six  and  seven,  at  the 
rooms  of  Dr.  Warner,  afterwards  chaplain  to  Lord  Gower,  when 
Ambassador  in  Paris,  in  Barnard's  Inn.  Romney  was  then  at  work  on 
the  portrait  of  Lady  Hamilton  as  '  Sensibility,'  and  on  May  5th,  Hayley, 
accompanied  by  Mrs.  Clyfford  and  her  little  niece,  went  in  search  of 
the  sensitive  plant  which  was  required  before  the  finishing  touches 
could  be  given  to  the  canvas.1  The  botanist,  Mr.  Lee,  from  whom 
they  obtained  it,  greatly  pleased  his  visitor  by  calling  him  '  a  very  great 
man,'  and  refused  all  payment  for  the  plant.  In  return  Hayley  took 
Miss  Lee  to  see  Romney's  pictures,  and  made  the  old  gentleman 
promise  to  visit  him  in  Sussex. 

Romney  went  earlier  than  usual  to  Eartham  this  year,  for  the 
purpose  of  planning  out  his  '  Tempest '  picture.  His  friend  Meyer, 
the  miniature  painter,  was  there,  recovering  from  an  illness;  but,  think- 
ing that  his  presence  appeared  to  be  in  some  degree  irksome  to  the 
artist,  who  wished  for  solitude  in  order  to  give  himself  up  completely 
to  his  studies,  he  very  generously  cut  short  his  visit.  Romney,  indeed, 
confessed,  when  Hayley  told  him  of  this,  '  that  he  wished  to  be  left 
very  much  to  himself.' 

'  The  scene,  on  which  he  now  resided,'  says  Hayley,  '  was  happily 
suited  to  sequestered  study.  At  a  time,  when  I  was  so  much  troubled 
with  a  tendency  to  inflammation  in  the  eyes,  that  I  could  not  ride  in 
the  open  air  without  suffering,  I  had  built  a  riding-house  of  wood  ;  its 
size  and  situation  rendered  it  peculiarly  delightful  to  the  fancy  of 
Romney,  as  a  study  for  his  art.  It  was  distant  from  the  dwelling- 
house,  and  screened  on  three  sides  by  foliage ;  in  its  front  to  the  south 
a  very  broad  gravel  walk  with  borders  of  evergreens,  commanded  an 

1  See  page  115. 

148 


THE   'TEMPEST'  PICTURE 


extensive  view  of  sloping  and  level  land,  terminated  by  the  sea,  which 
when  the  spectator  was  so  stationed,  that  his  eyes  lost  the  intermediate 
vale,  had  the  appearance  of  being  delightfully  near  to  the  building, 
especially  when  the  water  reflected  a  brilliant  sky.  In  this  favorite 
retirement,  which  afforded  him  a  walk  of  a  hundred  feet  under 
cover,  Romney  began  to  meditate  on  the  various  pictures  from  Shake- 
speare, that  he  hoped  to  produce  ;  and  here  he  formed  on  a  very  large 
canvas,  the  first  sketch  of  his  scene  from  the  Tempest. 

'  It  was  in  truth  a  formidable  enterprize  for  a  painter,  who  had  so 
long  devoted  himself  to  the  quiet  business  of  painting  portraits,  to 
undertake  to  fill  an  immense  canvas  with  a  multitude  of  figures  under 
vehement  agitation,  and  to  use  the  forcible  phrase  of  Shakespeare,  in 
'  a  fever  of  the  mad.'  The  intense  desire  of  executing  a  very  grand, 
and  sublime  picture,  and  the  apprehension  of  failing  in  it,  created  many 
a  tempest  in  the  fluctuating  spirits  of  Romney.  He  often  trembled  for 
himself ;  and  his  intimates  who  most  endeavoured  to  animate  and 
support  his  courage,  were  not  without  their  fears  of  his  sinking  under 
this  mighty  undertaking.  Having  sketched  at  Eartham  a  beginning  of 
his  design,  in  some  points  happy,  and  in  others  unfortunate,  he  returned 
with  his  great  canvas  to  London  in  the  autumn.  Rejoining  him  there 
in  November,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  observing  the  progress  he  made  in 
his  arduous  work,  and  of  adding  my  influence  to  that  of  other  friends, 
who  were  peculiarly  solicitous  to  encourage  him  on  this  important 
occasion.  In  zeal,  intelligence  and  affection,  his  pleasant  friend 
Carwardine1  was  inferior  to  none.' 

Carwardine  tried  to  interest  Lord  Chancellor  Thurlow  in  the 
Shakespeare  undertaking.  '  What ! '  said  the  latter,  '  is  Romney  at 
work  for  it  ?  He  cannot  paint  in  that  style,  it  is  out  of  his  way  ;  by 
God,  he  '11  make  a  balderdash  business  of  it.'  Carwardine  hinted  that 
his  lordship  did  not  thoroughly  know  the  painter,  whose  native  modesty 
hindered  him  from  showing  his  full  powers.  Thereupon  Thurlow  asked 
him  to  bring  Romney  to  dinner  that  they  might  talk  it  over.  Romney 
replied  that  he  should  be  glad  to  talk  with  his  lordship,  '  for  he  has 
some  grand  ideas  in  his  gloomy  head,'  but  he  refused  to  go  to  dinner. 
Carwardine,  however,  '  talked  the  terrified  artist  into  spirits  sufficient 
to  make  him  go,  with  some  pleasure,  to  this  aweful  dinner,  of  which 
you  shall  hear  more  in  my  next,'  Hayley  wrote  to  a  friend,  and  in  a 
later  letter,  he  adds  : — 

'  Carwardine  tells  me,  their  dialogue  was  highly  entertaining  to  him, 

1  The  Rev.  Thomas  Carwardine  of  Colne  Priorv. 

149 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


as  they  debated  several  points  with  warmth,  and  spirit  on  both  sides. 
They  had  no  intruder  to  disturb  the  trio,  and  continued  with  their 
great  host  till  ten  in  the  evening.' 

Romney  and  Thurlow  held  one  another  in  mutual  esteem.  '  Each 
delighted  in  that  energy  of  idea,  and  force  of  expression,  which  gave  to 
their  conversation  a  powerful  and  sometimes  a  rough  spirit ;  for  each 
could  speak  in  a  tone  of  the  most  refined,  and  endearing  politeness,  or 
with  an  asperity,  sometimes  ludicrous  in  the  display  of  momentary 
spleen,  and  sometimes  seriously  alarming.' 1 

'Mr  Romney,'  said  the  Chancellor  one  day,  'before  you  paint 
Shakespeare,  I  advise  you  to  read  him.'  Says  Hayley — 'The  advice, 
though  rude  in  its  sound,  was  materially  good ;  for  Romney  had  a 
rapidity  of  fancy,  too  apt  to  indulge  itself  in  desultory  excursion.  He 
was  like  a  bee,  who  flies  off  from  a  flower,  before  he  has  gathered  half 
the  honey,  that  time  would  enable  him  to  collect ;  but  he  was  con- 
scious of  his  defects,  and  grateful  even  for  rough  admonition.' 

Romney,  anxious  that  this  '  Tempest '  picture  should  be  his  master- 
piece, thought  that  a  renewed  examination  of  Raphael's  '  Cartoons ' 
would  give  him  fresh  ideas  for  his  great  undertaking,  so  in  November 
a  small  party  was  made  up  by  Hayley,  including  Meyer,  for  a  visit 
to  Windsor.  They  found  West  at  work  there  on  his  series  of  historical 
pictures,  and  the  Academician  politely  deserted  his  easel  to  spend  the 
day  with  a  brother  artist.  Romney  declared  that  '  he  felt  his  mind 
invigorated,  and  enriched,  by  a  new  research  into  the  merits  of  Raphael.' 

Before  Hayley  returned  to  Sussex,  he  sat,  at  Romney 's  request,  for 
his  portrait  in  miniature  to  Miss  Foldstone,2  and  also  to  Marchant,  the 
gem-sculptor.  '  The  dear  liberal  Pittore  has  been  throwing  away  above 
thirty  guineas  in  procuring  for  himself  different  representations  of  my 
face,'  he  wrote  to  his  wife.  Romney  had  made  Marchant's  acquaint- 
ance in  Rome,  and  had  a  sincere  liking  for  him.  He  had  just  returned 
to  London,  and  the  painter  hastened  to  give  him  a  small  commission, 
an  onyx  seal  for  his  own  use,  with  Hay  ley's  head  in  intaglio.  Miss 
Foldstone  was  a  protegee  of  Romney 's,  '  a  young  female  genius  in 
miniature,'  the  same  letter  informs  us,  '  who  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
will,  I  trust,  under  his  patronage,  most  comfortably  raise,  and  support 
by  her  wonderful  talent,  a  drooping  family,  consisting  of  a  mother  and 
six  brothers  and  sisters.  She  is  the  child  of  an  inferior  painter,  who 
suffered  a  palsy  three  years,  and  lately  died.  She  is  a  pretty,  modest, 
and  sensible  girl.  .  .  .  The  miniature  was  regarded  as  a  strong  re- 

1  Hayley,  page  131.  2  Afterwards  Mrs.  Mee. 

150 


SECOND   PORTRAIT  OF  MISS  SEWARD 


semblance ;  but  the  gem,  which  proved  a  cameo,  instead  of  being  as  it 
was  purposed  at  first,  an  intaglio,  did  not  satisfy  Romney,  who  had 
rather  embarrassed  than  assisted  the  engraver,  by  giving  him  instruc- 
tions with  his  pencil  for  the  likeness,  instead  of  leaving  him  to  work 
according  to  his  own  view  of  the  features  he  tried  to  represent.' 

According  to  Hayley,  Romney  reduced  the  number  of  his  sitters  in 
1787  in  order  to  give  more  time  to  the  'Tempest'  picture;  but  he 
nevertheless  produced  a  great  number  of  portraits,  among  which  may 
be  mentioned  a  three-quarters  of  '  Mrs.  Ainslie  and  her  Child  ';  a  half- 
length  of 'Mrs.  Billington,' 1  which  was  still  in  the  artist's  possession  at 
the  time  of  his  death  ;  and  a  '  half-whole-length  '  of  '  Bishop  Watson' 
without  his  episcopal  robes.  '  Certainly,'  writes  his  son,  '  a  finer  portrait 
was  never  produced;  it  was,  indeed,  perfect  in  every  respect.'  The 
sitter  and  the  painter  were  nearly  of  the  same  age,  and  came  from  the 
same  neighbourhood. 

Early  in  1788,  he  had  a  somewhat  severe  fit  of  illness,  and  he  wrote 
on  March  15th  to  his  friend,  saying — '  I  have  not  done  anything  to 
the  Cassandra,  nor  to  Sensibility,  since  you  left  me,  nor  made  any 
advance  in  the  Tempest-scene,  the  last  two  months.  ...  I  began  to 
write  yesterday,  but  could  not  get  on,  I  was  so  weak.  I  am  much 
better  to-day,  and  to-morrow  begin  to  work.' 

In  the  spring  he  managed  to  finish  his  second  portrait  of  Miss 
Seward,  which  was  to  be  a  present  to  her  father.  Her  friend,  George 
Hardinge,  who  appears  to  have  seen  it  in  the  previous  year  in  Romney 's 
studio,  or,  perhaps,  only  to  have  known  that  it  was  in  progress,  wrote 
to  her : — '  You  write  like  an  angel,  and  I  would  go  to  the  end  of  the 
world  for  a  lock  of  your  hair ;  and  so  pray  send  me  one  at  the  two 
months'  end — and  let  me  carry  off  your  picture  by  force  from  Romney.' 
The  poetess  wrote  to  Eartham  on  May  10th  : — '  You  have  made  my 
poor  old  father  very  happy,  by  kindly  exerting  yourself  with  our  beloved 
Romney,  to  procure  us  the  possession  of  that  highly  valuable  present, 
which  the  paternal  eye  longs  to  behold,  ere  its  light  grows  too  dim  to 
discern  the  excellence  of  art.' 

In  a  letter  to  the  same  friend,  dated  June  1st,  she  describes  its  arrival : 
'  I  scarce  know  how  ...  to  express  our  gratitude  for  your  having 
persuaded  Romney  to  gratify  my  father,  by  his  possessing,  ere  he  dies, 
the  promised  treasure.    It  arrived  late  last  night ;  rich,  adorned,  and 

1  See  page  229. 

151 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


invaluable,  by  the  Romneyean  powers.  My  poor  invalid  was  fast  asleep 
in  his  bed — Lister  and  Cary,  our  young  bards,  were  supping  with  me. 
They  were  on  fire  with  curiosity,  while  the  nails  were  drawing,  and 
highly  gratified  with  contemplating  the  most  masterly  portrait  their 
young  eyes  had  ever  beheld.  I  placed  it  by  my  father's  bedside  at 
seven  this  morn.  He  wept  with  joy  when  I  undrew  the  curtain — 
wanted  to  kiss  it,  and  has  talked  and  looked  at  it  all  day.  I  send 
some  verses  to  Romney,  by  this  post,  which  but  ill  express  my  grati- 
tude. This  welcome  guest  made  happy  faces  at  our  dinner-board 
to-day.' 

Two  days  later  she  wrote  to  another  friend,  Dr.  Warner : — '  The 
picture  with  which  Romney  has  so  nobly  presented  us,  arrived  late  on 
Friday  night.  It  makes  my  poor  father  very  happy.  I  am  flattered 
by  its  being  thought  like  me  by  yesterday's  callers ! — ah  !  those  callers, 
they  run  away  with  all  my  leisure ;  yet  I  cannot  help  being  glad  to  see 
them  come  in,  so  strong  is  my  native  love  of  society — every  body  that 
looks  benevolent,  and  says  nothing  ill-natured,  interests  me.' 

To  Romney  himself,  on  May  31st,  she  sent  a  set  of  '  impromptu ' 
verses,  describing  the  great  event,  in  which  Cary 1  and  Lister  are  spoken 
of  as 

'  Two  wondrous  youths,  who  strike  the  Delian  lyre, 
Ere  manhood's  hour,  with  all  the  poet's  fire, 
Sat  by  thy  friend  in  luxury  of  praise, 
A  raptur'd  descant  on  Hayleyan  lays ; 
When  sudden  thro'  the  swiftly  open'd  door 
The  long  wish'd  prize  a  smiling  servant  bore. 
With  eager  eyes  the  youthful  poets  hail 
The  heav'd  dismission  of  each  tardy  nail, 
Till  to  the  sight  thy  breathing  canvass  shone 
And  made  the  magic  of  thy  pencil  known.' 

'  The  above  verses,'  she  concludes,  '  have  faintly,  and  with  little  happi- 
ness expressed  my  father's  sense,  and  my  own,  of  the  very  great 
obligation  you  have  conferred  upon  us :  neither  verse  nor  prose  can 
express  how  affectionately  we  shall  always  be, — My  dear  Mr.  Romney, 
your  devoted  admirers  and  grateful  friends, 

'Thomas  and  Anna  Seward.' 

'  Every  body  here,  who,  as  yet,  have  seen  the  picture,  think  it  still 
more  pleasing  than  the  first,  and  more  like  me  for  having  that  smile, 
which  they  say  is  habitual  to  my  countenance — also  from  the  hair  being 

1  The  translator  of 'Dante.' 

152 


PORTRAITS   OF  MISS  SEWARD 


more  gracefully  disposed — of  the  likeness  I  must  leave  other  people  to 
judge — but  of  the  exquisite  excellence  as  a  portrait,  supposing  I  knew 
nothing  of  the  original,  I  cannot  but  be  conscious.' 

In  a  later  letter  to  Hayley,  written  on  November  9th  of  the  same 
year,  she  says :  '  I  hope  the  dear  Romney  is  well,  to  whom  1  beseech 
you  will  say  for  me  everything  that  is  affectionate  and  grateful.  Mrs. 
Knowles  passed  a  fortnight  with  me  in  August.  She  says  Romney  s 
picture  of  me  is  one  of  the  finest  portraits  she  ever  saw.  I  sent  for  the 
handsomest  frame  London  would  produce.  It  "  emblazes,  with  its 
breadth  of  gold,"  the  centre  of  the  dining-room,  opposite  the  fire-place. 
I  keep  the  one  by  poor  Kettle,  for  which  you  know  I  sat  at  nineteen, 
as  a  foil  to  Titiano's,  and  am  diverted  with  people  taking  it  for  my 
mother's  picture,  after  they  have  looked  at  Romney 's.' 

Eight  years  later  she  wrote  of  it  as  4  a  graceful,  expressive  portrait, 
and  some  people  think  it  like,  others  deny  the  resemblance.' 

In  the  portrait  of  her  given  to  Hayley  she  was  represented  in  a 
white  dress.  In  the  one  sent  to  Lichfield  she  is  wearing  black,  with 
her  left  elbow  resting  on  a  table  covered  with  writing  materials,  and 
her  head  leaning  on  her  left  hand,  while  in  the  right  she  holds  a  roll  of 
papers  ;  she  is  looking  upwards,  with  a  slight  smile  on  her  lips.  This 
picture  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  T.  L.  Burrowes,  of  Stradone, 
Co.  Cavan.  Miss  Seward,  in  writing,  on  November  5th,  1807,  to  Sir 
W alter  Scott,  who  edited  her  Letters  for  publication,  tells  him : — 
*  On  Monday  last  my  young  cousin,  Miss  Seward,  whom  you  saw  at 
my  house,  was  very  advantageously  married  to  Major  Burrowes,  late 
of  the  38th  regiment  of  foot,  the  heir  to  a  large  estate,  and  in  himself 
all  that  a  reasonable  young  woman  can  desire  in  a  husband  ;  esteemed 
and  beloved  by  all  who  know  him.'  The  portrait,  no  doubt,  on  Miss 
Seward's  death,  followed  Mrs.  Burrowes  to  Ireland.  It  remained  un- 
known to  the  general  public  until  the  Old  Masters  Exhibition  held  in 
Dublin  in  1902,  to  which  it  was  lent  by  Mr.  Burrowes.    (See  Plate  x.) 

Little  is  known  of  the  history  of  the  earlier  portrait,  which,  in  all 
probability,  remained  in  Hayley 's  possession  until  his  death.  It  made 
an  unexpected  appearance  at  a  sale  held  by  Messrs.  Foster  &  Co.  on 
October  28th,  1903.  It  was  catalogued  as  by  an  artist  of  the  English 
school,  and  was  said  to  be  a  portrait  of  Mrs.  Siddons.  The  vendor  was 
a  Wandsworth  mechanic,  and  the  picture  came  into  his  possession 
through  his  wife,  whose  father  bought  it  some  years  earlier  with  the 
other  fixtures  of  a  public-house  of  which  he  became  the  landlord.  At 

153 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


the  time  of  the  sale  it  was  almost  completely  hidden  by  several 
coatings  of  varnish  and  dirt,  and  the  first  bid  was  one  of  ten  shil- 
lings. In  the  end  it  was  knocked  down  to  Mr.  Buttery,  the  well- 
known  picture  restorer,  of  Piccadilly,  for  350  guineas.  After  careful 
cleaning  it  revealed  itself  not  only  as  an  excellent  example  of  Romney's 
art,  but  as  the  long  missing  portrait  of  Miss  Seward.  The  volume  on 
the  table  by  her  side,  labelled  '  America,'  no  doubt  refers  to  her  early 
friendship  with  Major  Andre,  the  devoted  lover  of  Honora  Sneyd,  who 
was  hanged  as  a  spy  during  the  American  War.  Her  '  Monody '  on 
Andre  was  published,  together  with  certain  of  the  Major's  letters,  in 
1788.  Frequent  reference  is  made  in  her  correspondence  to  this  poem, 
which  contained  a  bitter  attack  on  Washington,  which  she  withdrew  in 
later  editions.  An  engraving  was  made  from  one  or  other  of  these 
portraits  by  William  Ridley,  and  published  in  the  Monthly  Review  for 
February  1797,  and  a  second  one  was  done  by  Woolnoth  for  the 
Beauties  of  Anna  Seward,  which  appeared  in  1822. 

A  few  days  after  the  arrival  of  Miss  Seward's  verses,  Romney 
received  a  letter  from  Flaxman,  dated  May  25th,  1788,  from  Rome, 
where  he  had  been  studying  for  some  time.  '  Having  himself,  though 
unfortunately  late  in  life,  experienced  the  great  advantage  to  be  derived 
from  studying  the  works  of  the  ancient  Greek  sculptors,  and  also  those 
of  Michael  Angelo  ;  he  recommended  to  the  young  sculptor,  by  all 
means  to  visit  Italy,  and  to  fix  himself  in  Rome  for  a  length  of  time, 
where  he  might  enjoy  every  facility  of  study,  and  where  every  thing 
that  was  great,  or  graceful  in  art,  would  be  accessible  to  his  genius  :  he 
did  more — he  offered  to  be  useful  to  him  in  a  pecuniary  light,  or  in  any 
way  that  might  promote  his  professional  views.'1  Flaxman  himself 
tells  this  incident  in  the  contribution  he  made  to  Hayley's  Life  of  the 
painter  (p.  313).  '  He  was  particularly  delighted  with  youthful  talents, 
and  never  neglected  an  opportunity  of  encouraging  and  recommending 
them.  Once  he  endeavoured  to  press  two  hundred  pounds  on  a  young 
man  going  abroad  to  study,  who  was  not  in  affluent  circumstances, 
and  on  the  money  being  refused,  he  exerted  himself  by  recommendation 
and  every  means  in  his  power,  until  he  actually  did  render  him  much 
more  important  services.' 

Throughout  the  year  he  remained  far  from  well.  For  the  sake  of 
the  fresh  air  he  took  lodgings  at  Hampstead,  going  out  to  sleep  there 
every  night,  and  returning  to  his  studio  early  in  the  morning.  Hayley 
began  to  grow  very  anxious  as  to  the  condition  of  his  friend's  health. 

1  John  Romney,  page  203. 

154 


PORTRAITS   OF  1788 


'  I  was  painfully  alarmed  by  the  deprest  state  of  his  spirits,  and  hope, 
that  I  contributed  a  little  to  their  revival,  as  I  happened  to  be  near 
him  at  this  time  ...  I  wished  to  take  the  convalescent  painter  into 
Sussex  on  my  return,  but  his  pressing  engagements  to  different 
sitters  detained  him  in  London  till  the  summer  was  advanced.  He 
could  not  reach  Eartham  till  August,  and  was  rendered  inactive  by 
indisposition  for  some  time  after  his  arrival  ;  but  he  revived  as  usual  on 
the  spot  peculiarly  favorable  to  his  health,  and  continued  to  paint  there 
with  energy  and  success  till  near  the  end  of  September.'  He  was 
mainly  occupied  in  making  studies  from  Shakespeare  during  this  visit. 

On  his  return  to  London  he  made  arrangements  to  receive  no 
sitters  before  noon,  so  that  he  could  give  the  best  part  of  each  morning 
to  the  '  Tempest '  picture.  Early  in  the  winter  Hayley  came  to  town, 
partly  on  private  business  and  '  partly  in  the  hope  of  being  useful  to 
llomney,  either  by  encouraging  his  apprehensive  spirit  or  assisting  him 
in  the  humble  capacity  of  a  painter's  layman.  It  was  generally  a  great 
relief  and  gratification  to  him  to  have  the  opportunity  of  conversing 
with  an  intimate  confidential  friend,  while  his  pencil  was  employed.' 

Among  his  portraits  of  1788  were  Mrs.  Clements,  a  half-length,  sent 
to  Dublin,  of  which  his  son  notes  that  it  was  painted  in  a  beautiful 
pearly  tone,  '  which  I  do  not  remember  to  have  observed  in  any  other 
of  his  pictures  ' ;  Mrs.  Arden 1  and  child,  half-length  ;  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Parr,  the  celebrated  scholar  and  controversialist,  in  his  doctor's  gown, 
three-quarters ;  the  Duchess  of  Cumberland,  half-length ;  the  sons  of 
Sir  George  Winn,  '  half-whole-length ' ;  Dr.  Moore,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  half-length  ;  and  Miss  Wallis  in  the  characters  of  Mirth 
and  Melancholy  on  a  single  canvas.  Melancholy  was  represented  as 
standing  near  the  entrance  of  a  gloomy  cell,  with  her  sister  Mirth 
urging  her  with  gentle  force  to  join  a  joyous  party  dancing  round  a 
maypole  on  a  distant  hill.  This  was  another  of  the  pictures  inherited 
by  the  painter's  son.2  He  also  painted  in  this  year  a  group  of  Mrs. 
Gosling's  three  children. 

The  celebrated  divine,  John  Wesley,  also  sat  to  him  at  Christmas, 
1788-89,  for  Mrs.Tighe.  W esley  says  in  his  diary,under  the  date  January 
5th,  1789  : — '  At  the  earnest  request  of  Mrs.  T.  I  once  more  sat  for  my 
picture.  Mr.  Romney  is  a  painter  indeed.  He  struck  off  an  exact 
likeness  at  once,  and  did  more  in  an  hour  than  Sir  Joshua  did  in  two.' 
The  sitter  was  at  that  time,  according  to  Walpole,  '  a  lean  elderly  man, 

1  This  lady  was  a  daughter  of  Richard  Wilbraham  Bootle,  whose  portrait  and  those  of  other 
members  of  his  family  are  described  on  pages  2!)4-.'5.  2  Now  at  Petworth.    See  page  204. 

155 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


fresh-coloured,  his  hair  smoothly  combed;  but  witli  a  soupcon  of  curl 
at  the  ends.    Wondrous  clean,  but  as  evidently  an  actor  as  Garrick.' 

The  original  picture,  which  was  engraved  by  J.  Spilsbury  in  1789, 
was  at  one  time  in  the  possession  of  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Butterworth,  and 
until  recently  in  that  of  Mr.  Walter  R.  Cassels,  who  lent  it  to  the 
Romney  Exhibition  in  1900.  It  fetched  530  guineas  at  Messrs. 
Christie's  in  the  Butterworth  sale  in  1873,  and  at  the  same  place  on 
June  30th,  1906,  when  the  Cassels  collection  was  sold,  it  realised  720 
guineas.  It  measures  30  in.  x  25  in.  A  replica  of  it  was  exhibited 
at  Oxford  in  1906,  lent  by  the  Governing  Body  of  Christ  Church,  which 
is  believed  to  be  one  of  two  contemporary  repetitions,  differing  from 
the  original  in  having  the  dress  trimmed  with  fur.  It  appears,  however, 
to  be  merely  a  good  copy. 

The  year  1789  was  an  uneventful  one,  devoted,  as  all  his  years 
were,  to  little  else  but  hard  work.  His  old  friend  Adam  Walker  was 
in  London  in  the  spring,  exhibiting  at  Covent  Garden  Theatre  his 
'  Eidouranion,  or  immense  Orrery,'  and  Romney,  Carwardine,  and 
Hay  ley  and  his  boy  Tom  went  together  to  the  pit  one  night  to  see  it. 
Hayley  was  up  again  in  November  about  his  play  Marcella,  which 
through  some  misunderstanding,  too  long  and  dull  to  trouble  about 
to-day,  was  produced  at  both  houses  at  once.  William  Long  and 
Romney,  who  went  to  see  the  Drury  Lane  version,  reported  to  the 
author  that  '  nothing  could  be  more  infamous  than  their  mode  of 
exhibiting  the  piece.' 

In  October  Romney  sent  back  to  Eartham  the  '  Sensibility '  which 
had  been  lent  to  Boydell  for  engraving,  together  with  the  two  figures 
of  Sorrow  and  Joy  in  chiaroscuro,  which  have  been  already  described.1 
Another  incident  of  this  year  was  the  death  of  one  of  his  earliest 
London  friends,  Meyer,  the  miniature  painter,  from  a  fever  caught 
when  working  for  some  acquaintance  at  a  contested  election. 

Among  his  portraits  in  1789  was  one  of  'the  beautiful,  but  frail' 
Mrs.  Hodges,  full-length,  done  for  Walquier,  the  Brussels  banker. 
She  was  represented  in  a  pose  something  like  Sir  Joshua's  '  Colonel 
Tarleton,'  with  her  back  to  the  spectator,  stooping  to  tie  her  shoe 
string,  and  looking  over  her  shoulder.  '  It  was  a  most  delightful 
picture,  but  never  had  the  advantage  of  being  exhibited  to  the  view  of 
admiring  Englishmen  ;  for  it  was  sent  to  Brussels  before  the  French 
revolution.  What  became  of  it,  and  its  wealthy  possessor,  when  the 
French  invaded  Flanders,  I  have  never  heard,'  writes  his  son.  Other 

1  See  page  1 15. 

156 


PL  A  TE  XXXI 


I.ADY  HANMER 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  LORD  k'ENVON 

Page  2Q8 


PLA  TE  XXX 1 1 


MRS.  JORDAN 

FORMERLY  IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  SIR  CUTHBERT  (JL'ILTER,  BT 

Page  2QQ 


PORTRAIT   OF  DR.   PALE Y 


portraits  of  this  year  were  a  three-quarters  of  Mrs.  Fitzherbert,  and 
another  of  her  half-whole-length  ;  Mr.  Edward  Law  (Lord  Ellen- 
borough)  son  of  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  now  in  Peterhouse  College, 
Cambridge  ;  a  group  of  Mr.  Adye's  children ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Paley,  with 
his  fishing-rod,  painted  for  Dr.  Law,  when  Bishop  of  Clonfert ;  the 
two  Miss  Beckfords ;  and  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  for  Emmanuel 
College,  Cambridge. 

When  Paley  first  went  to  sit,  he  was  accompanied  by  Dr.  Law, 
and,  being  a  man  who  did  not  trouble  himself  about  appearances,  his 
dress  was  not  considered  suitable,  and  so  he  was  made  to  put  on  the 
Bishop's  hat  and  coat.  There  seems  to  have  been  some  slight  mis- 
understanding about  the  price  of  this  portrait.  In  the  Life  of  Paley 
we  are  told  that  '  it  was  thought  so  good  a  painting,  that  when  Doctor 
Law,  then  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  called  on  Romney  to  pay  him  the 
stipulated  price,  the  painter  took  up  his  fifty  pounds  with  great  dissatis- 
faction, at  the  same  time  observing,  he  had  been  offered  twice  as 
much  for  it.'  John  Romney  says  that  this  is  not  true.  According  to 
him,  Lord  Ellenborough,  the  Bishop  s  brother,  paid  sixty  guineas  for 
it  on  April  6th,  1791,  the  usual  price  for  a  picture  of  that  size  when 
Dr.  Paley  began  to  sit,  on  July  10th,  1789.  Romney  advanced  his 
prices  to  seventy  guineas  in  the  following  October,  and  very  probably 
had  forgotten,  when  receiving  payment  in  1791,  the  precise  date  of 
the  first  sitting.  '  I  ;.am  sure,'  says  his  son,  'that  Mr.  Romney  was 
perfectly  incapable  of  making  any  charge  which  he  did  not  at  the  time 
think  just.' 

It  was  not  until  the  April  of  1790  that  Romney  succeeded  in 
finishing  his  '  Tempest '  picture.  '  There  has  been  an  anxiety  labouring 
in  my  mind  the  greatest  part  of  the  last  twelvemonth,'  he  writes. 
'  At  times  it  had  nearly  overwhelmed  me.  I  thought  I  should  abso- 
lutely have  sunk  into  despair.  O  what  a  kind  friend  is  in  those  times ! 
I  thank  God  (whatever  my  picture  may  be)  I  can  say  this  much,  I 
am  a  greater  philosopher,  and  a  better  christian.' 

The  relief  of  mind  he  felt  upon  the  completion  of  this  task  was 
immense.  'He  was  happily  conscious,'  says  Hayley,  'that  it  was  the 
production  of  no  ordinary  painter,  and  he  was  also  aware,  that  with 
considerable  merit,  it  had  striking  defects,  arising  from  his  imperfect 
and  fortuitous  education  in  art,  and  from  the  habits  of  his  professional 
life.  There  is  great  force,  and  magnificence,  but  not  equal  clearness  of 
conception  in  the  design,  for  the  hurly-burly  in  the  ship,  and  the  cell 

157 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


of  the  princely  enchanter  are  unfortunately  huddled  together.  This 
appeared  to  me  a  radical  error  in  the  original  sketch,  which  the  artist 
tried  many  expedients  to  counteract,  but  which,  in  my  opinion  he  was 
never  able  completely  to  remedy.  Yet  the  picture  has  the  primary 
characteristic  belonging  to  works  of  true  genius,  it  seizes  and  it  enchants, 
though  it  does  not  absolutely  satisfy  the  mind.'    (See  Plate  xv.) 

No  one  of  his  friends  was  more  enthusiastic  over  this  picture  than 
Dr.  Warner,  who  took  Lord  Thurlow  to  see  it.  Dr.  Warner  had 
been  recently  appointed  domestic  chaplain  to  the  young  Lord  Gower, 
whose  father,  the  Marquis  of  Stafford,  was  so  good  a  friend  and  gener- 
ous a  patron  to  Romney.  Lord  Gower  had  just  become  English 
ambassador  in  Paris,  and  the  chaplain  urged  the  artist  to  take  early 
advantage  of  so  favourable  an  opportunity  for  revisiting  that  city ;  and 
the  invitation  was  accepted.  Romney  set  out  from  Eartham  on  July 
31st,  accompanied  by  Hayley  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Carwardine.  The 
travellers  put  up  at  the  Hotel  de  Modene.  '  Here  I  cannot  fail  to 
remark,'  writes  Hayley,  4  that  the  painter  described  as  never  to  be  seen 
at  the  tables  of  the  great,  except  that  of  Lord  Thurlow,  might  have 
been  seen,  not  only  dining  repeatedly  with  the  English  Ambassador  in 
Paris,  but  graciously  conducted  by  that  nobleman  or  his  lady,  to  the 
houses  of  foreign  artists  and  to  such  objects  of  curiosity,  as  they 
esteemed  worthy  of  his  notice.'  The  Embassy  was  in  what  was  then 
known  as  the  Hotel  de  Monaco,  in  the  rue  St.  Dominique,  in  the 
Faubourg  St.  Germain. 

Romney  spent  much  of  his  time  in  the  study  of  pictures,  particu- 
larly those  in  the  Orleans  Collection,  which  was  dispersed  shortly 
afterwards.  He  received  much  kindness  from  the  young  Duke  of 
Chartres,  and  from  Madame  de  Genlis,  the  accomplished  '  governess ' 
of  the  Royal  family.  Later  on,  when  she  visited  London,  Romney 
made  a  rapid  but  faithful  sketch  of  her.  The  leading  French  artists 
paid  him  much  attention.  Both  David  and  Greuze  dined  with  him, 
and  the  former  took  him  over  the  Luxembourg  Gallery.  Hayley 
says  that '  the  Splendor  of  Rubens  did  not  strike  us  blind  to  the  merit 
of  David.  His  Death  of  Socrates,  his  Paris  and  Helen,  and  his 
Horatii,  the  picture  on  which  he  was  then  engaged,  imprest  us  with 
considerable  respect  for  his  talents.' 

John  Romney  prints  two  letters  written  to  him  by  his  father  during 
this  holiday.    In  the  first  he  says  : — 
158 


MRS.  HAYLEY 


'  I  knew  it  would  give  you  much  pleasure  to  hear  that  Prince 
William  has  sat  to  me  ;  and  that  the  Prince  of  Wales  has  been  at  my 
house,  and  admired  a  new  picture  of  Mrs.  Fitzherbert,  and  told  me 
he  would  sit  to  me  when  he  returned  from  Brighton.'  In  a  third  letter, 
written  three  weeks  after  his  return,  he  tells  the  same  correspondent 
that  he  was  taken  ill  the  day  after  he  reached  Eartham  again,  '  and 
continued  so  till  last  Sunday,  when  I  journeyed  to  London.  I  have 
been  tolerable  since,  and  gain  health  every  day.  I  believe  I  caught 
cold  in  coming  over  the  water.'  He  adds  that  he  '  dined  with  the 
ambassador  twice  ;  they  shewed  great  politeness  in  going  out  with  us 
twice  to  see  curiosities,'  which  hardly  agrees  with  Hayley's  statement 
that  they  dined  repeatedly  at  the  Embassy. 

Among  the  inmates  of  Eartham  at  this  period  were  Carwardine's 
two  sons,  who  were  pursuing  their  studies  under  Hayley's  instruction, 
together  with  his  own  boy,  Thomas  Alphonso.  The  latter  was 
Hayley's  natural  son,  but  the  boy  always  regarded  Mrs.  Hayley  as 
his  mother,  and  that  lady  treated  him  with  great  kindness  and  affection. 
Mrs.  Hayley,  however,  was  now  no  longer  a  member  of  the  Eartham 
house-party.  Always  excitable  by  nature,  her  mind  became  affected 
in  1786,  and  a  separation  was  arranged  in  1789.  For  the  rest  of  her 
life  she  resided  in  Derby,  in  the  house  of  a  medical  friend. 

Miss  Seward,  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Gell,  dated  December  3rd,  1797, 
very  shortly  after  Mrs.  Hayley's  death,  gives  a  clever  sketch  of  that 
lady's  character,  too  long  to  quote  in  its  entirety,  which  shows  how 
ill-suited  the  bard  and  his  Eliza  were  for  the  permanent  occupation  of 
the  same  house.  Mrs.  Hayley  had  a  sharp  and  satirical  tongue,  and 
was  an  unceasing  talker,  with  a  loud  laugh,  which  no  doubt,  frequently 
jarred  on  the  poet's  nerves.  '  She  had  a  Gallic  gaiety  of  spirit,'  says 
Miss  Seward, '  which  the  infelicities  of  her  destiny  could  but  transiently, 
however  violently,  impede.  The  short  paroxysm  of  anguish  passed, 
the  tide  of  vivacity  returned,  and  bore  down  everything  before  it.  .  .  . 
Fire  in  her  affections,  frost  in  her  sensations,  she  shrunk  from  the 
caresses  even  of  the  husband  she  adored.  Hence,  while  she  had  a 
morbid  degree  of  tenaciousness  respecting  his  esteem  and  attention, 
she  was  incapable  of  personal  jealousy  ;  and  would  amuse  herself  with 
the  idea  of  those  circumstances,  with  which  she  could  so  perfectly  well 
dispense,  being  engrossed  by  another.  Alike  during  the  years  of  their 
union,  and  in  those  of  their  separation,  she  gloried  in  the  talents  of 
her  bard,  as  she  used  to  call  Mr.  H.,  and  delighted  to  praise  his  virtues, 

159 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


perpetually  producing  specimens  of  the  first,  and  giving  instances  of 
the  latter.  .  .  .  With  sportive  fancy  ;  with  no  inconsiderable  portion  of 
belles-lettres  knowledge  ;  with  polite  address,  and  an  harmonious  voice 
in  speaking,  and  with  the  grace  of  correct  and  eloquent  language ;  with 
rectitude  of  principles,  unsuspecting  frankness  of  heart,  and  extreme 
good  humour ;  she  was,  strange  to  say  !  not  agreeable,  at  least  not 
permanently  agreeable.  The  unremitting  attention  her  manner  of 
conversing  seemed  to  claim  ;  her  singular  laugh,  frequent  and  excessive, 
past  all  proportion  to  its  cause,  overwhelmed,  wearied,  and  oppressed 
even  those  who  were  most  attached  to  her ;  who  felt  her  worth,  and 
pitied  her  banishment  from  the  man  on  whom  she  doated — in  whose 
fame  she  triumphed,  tenacious  of  its  claims,  even  to  the  most  irritable 
soreness.  Yet  her  rage  for  society,  and  excessive  love  of  talking,  were 
so  ill  calculated  to  the  inclinations  and  habits  of  a  studious  recluse,  as 
to  render  their  living  together  inconsistent  with  the  peace  of  either.' 

On  reaching  Eartham  from  Paris,  Romney  was  very  pleased  to  find 
the  new  painting-room,  which  he  had  wished  to  be  built  at  his  own 
expense  within  the  riding-house,  ready  for  his  use.  It  had  a  north 
sky-light,  with  a  good  fire-place,  so  that  he  could  work  in  it  even  in 
unseasonable  weather.  '  In  this  apartment,'  writes  Hayley,  '  we  both 
hoped  he  might  execute  many  works  of  imagination,  as  he  proposed 
gradually  to  withdraw  from  the  drudgery  of  his  profession.  For  a  few 
years  it  was  occasionally  of  great  use  to  him,  and  I  shall  mention  several 
productions,  that  he  began  in  his  favorite  room,  but  his  health,  already 
much  enfeebled,  allowed  him  not  to  realize  in  advanced  life  the  magni- 
ficent projects  of  his  enterprising  fancy.'  He  was  too  ill  to  make  any 
use  of  the  room  this  year,  for  he  was  labouring  '  under  both  a  dis- 
tempered mind  and  body,'  as  he  put  it  in  a  letter  to  Hayley  written 
on  his  return  to  town. 

'  Almost  all  the  afflictions,  that  pressed  on  my  friend,  through 
the  course  of  his  life,'  says  his  host,  '  might  be  considered,  by  many 
persons,  as  nothing  more  than  imaginary  afflictions,  but  there  are 
none  perhaps  more  entitled  to  compassion.  What  can  be  more 
truly  pitiable,  than  to  see  great  talents  frequently  rendered 
inactive  by  those  wonderful  variations  in  the  nervous  system,  that 
throw  a  shadowy  darkness  over  the  mind,  and  fill  it  with  phantoms 
of  apprehension.' 

Among  the  portraits  he  painted  in  1790  were  fine  ones  of  Dr. 
Fowler,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  Dr.  Markham,  Archbishop  of 
160 


PORTRAITS   OF  1790 


York.  The  last  '  was  a  picture  of  uncommon  merit,  and  inferior  to 
none  by  any  master.'  It  was  painted  without  his  robes,  'which  gave 
additional  simplicity  and  naturalness  to  the  character.  When  Mr. 
Romney  painted  dignified  characters,  it  was  always  his  wish,  if  left 
to  his  own  choice,  to  exclude  from  their  dress  all  formal  appendages 
of  rank  and  profession ;  and  to  invest  them  with  simplicity  and 
grandeur.  This  was  the  reason  why  he  preferred  painting  Bishops 
without  their  robes,  and  Doctors  Watson  and  Paley  with  hats  on. 
He  began  a  full-length  portrait  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  Thurlow. 
with  a  hat  on,  for  Colonel  Johnes,  of  Hafod.  But  the  latter 
gentleman's  circumstances  becoming  embarrassed,  Mr.  Romney  was 
not  pressed  to  finish  it,  and  the  picture  remained  in  that  state  at 
his  death.    The  head,  however,  was  afterwards  sold  to  the  Colonel.' 1 

Other  sitters  in  1790  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Drax-Grosvenor,  and  their 
child,  a  half-length,  in  an  oval,  and  Mrs.  Bonner  and  her  child. 

1  John  Romney,  page  213. 


G.  R.— 11 


161 


XVI 


BOTH  in  health  and  spirits  Romney  was  far  from  well  in  1791. 
At  the  beginning  of  May  he  wrote  to  Hayley  apologising  for 
not  answering  his  letters,  and  saying  what  a  great  gratification 
it  was  to  hear  from  him ;  '  but  never  more  so  than  when  my  mind  is 
labouring  under  some  anxiety,  and  depression  of  spirits,  which  has 
indeed  been  the  case  with  me  for  some  time  past.  If  there  is  a 
quality  in  man  that  approaches  to  divine,  or  that  predominates  over 
every  other,  it  is  a  tender  commisseration  administered  to  those 
under  deep  affliction,  or  when  the  mind  is  under  some  melancholy 
influence.' 

'  The  health  and  spirits  of  Romney ' — comments  Hayley — '  were  at 
this  time  so  impaired,  that  he  required  indeed  the  most  soothing  atten- 
tion of  friendship.  Like  many  other  sufferers  from  that  depressive 
disorder,  hypochondria,  he  laboured  under  a  frequent  dread,  that  his 
talents  would  utterly  desert  him.' 

In  a  second  letter,  Romney  wrote : — '  In  all  probability,  if  my 
health  be  not  equally  good,  I  shall  leave  off  business,  and  go  abroad, 
but  it  will  be  a  year  or  more,  before  I  can  settle  my  future  plans.'  He 
added  that,  for  his  next  Shakespearean  subject,  he  has  fixed  upon  '  Joan 
la  Pucelle  making  her  incantation,  and  another  I  intend  from  her  appear- 
ance on  the  walls  of  Rouen,  with  a  torch  in  her  hand.' 

A  little  later,  however,  his  spirits  were  greatly  raised  by  an  unex- 
pected visit  from  the  fair  Emma,  who  came  early  one  morning  to  sit 
to  him,  in  a  Turkish  costume.  She  had  just  arrived  in  England  for 
the  purpose  of  marrying  Sir  William,  who  accompanied  her  to  the 
studio.  '  Romney  had  ever  treated  her  with  the  tenderness  of  a  father,' 
writes  Hayley,  '  which  she  acknowledged  on  this  occasion,  with  tears 
of  lively  gratitude,  in  announcing  to  him  her  splendid  prospect  of 
being  soon  married  to  Sir  William,  and  of  attending  him  to  the 
162 


LADY   HAMILTON   IN  LONDON 


Court  of  Naples.  Romney  had  conceived  such  very  high  ideas  of  the 
beauty,  the  talents  and  the  heart  of  this  lady,  that  I  believe  the  joy  of 
a  father,  in  the  brilliant  marriage  of  a  favorite  daughter,  could  hardly 
have  exceeded  that  of  my  friend  on  this  occasion.'  Sir  William  and 
the  lady  who  was  so  soon  to  become  his  wife,  were  received  with  open 
arms  by  Society.  They  were  feted  and  entertained  by  the  Marquis  of 
Abercorn,  by  Mr.  Beckford  at  Fonthill,  and  by  the  Duke  of  Queens- 
berry,  who  gave  a  brilliant  concert  in  the  lady's  honour  at  Richmond, 
where  Emma  herself  performed.  The  Prince  of  Wales  was  very 
anxious  to  have  her  portrait,  and  gave  Romney  a  commission  for  two. 
She  was  most  desirous  that  the  painter  should  not  think  that  her 
regard  for  him  had  lessened.  In  spite  of  the  whirl  of  social  engage- 
ments in  which  she  and  Sir  William  were  involved,  he  was  bidden  to 
dine  with  them,  and  they,  in  their  turn,  dined  three  times  at  Caven- 
dish Square  during  July  and  August. 

Lady  Russell,  in  her  Three  Generations  of  Fascinating  Women, 
published  in  1904,  says : — '  Sir  William  Hamilton  was  a  great  friend 
of  Lady  Ailesbury's  family ;  and  after  he  made  the  beautiful  Emma 
Hart  his  wife  he  brought  her  to  see  the  Conways,  whom  she 
delighted  with  her  "Attitudes."  Lady  Ailesbury  remembers  that, 
though  Lady  Hamilton  had  such  consummate  art  in  the  management 
of  her  draperies  on  these  occasions,  her  taste  in  ordinary  dress  was 
atrocious.  One  night  she  was  in  a  box  in  Drury  Lane,  near  Lady 
Ailesbury,  who  noticed  her  rapt  gaze  at  the  actress,  Mrs.  Powell,  as 
she  came  on  the  stage.  It  was  afterwards  explained  to  Lady  Ailes- 
bury that  Mrs.  Powell  had  been  under-housemaid  in  Dr.  Budd's  house 
at  Chatham  Place,  Blackfriars,  at  the  same  time  that  Emma  Hart 
had  been  nursery-maid  there.' 

Her  unexpected  presence  thoroughly  aroused  Romney 's  flagging 
energies,  and  inspired  him  to  paint  at  his  best.  On  the  19th  of  June, 
he  wrote  to  Hayley  that  '  at  present,  and  the  greatest  part  of  the 
summer,  I  shall  be  engaged  in  painting  pictures  from  the  divine  lady. 
I  cannot  give  her  any  other  epithet,  for  I  think  her  superior  to  all 
womankind.  I  have  two  pictures  to  paint  of  her  for  the  Prince  of 
Wales.  She  says  she  must  see  you,  before  she  leaves  England,  which 
will  be  in  the  beginning  of  September.  She  asked  me  if  you  would 
not  write  my  life  : — I  told  her  you  had  begun  it : — then,  she  said,  she 
hoped  you  would  have  much  to  say  of  her  in  the  life,  as  she  prided 
herself  in  being  my  model.  So  you  see  I  must  be  in  London  till  the 
time,  when  she  leaves  town.' 

163 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


In  a  second  letter,  dated  July  7th,  he  continues  in  the  same 
strain  : — '  I  dedicate  my  time  to  this  charming  lady ;  there  is  a 
prospect  of  her  leaving  town  with  Sir  William,  for  two  or  three 
weeks.  They  are  very  much  hurried  at  present,  as  every  thing  is 
going  on  for  their  speedy  marriage,  and  all  the  world  following  her, 
and  talking  of  her,  so  that  if  she  had  not  more  good  sense,  than 
vanity,  her  brain  must  be  turned.  The  pictures,  I  have  begun,  are 
Joan  of  Arc,  a  Magdalen,  and  a  Bacchante,  for  the  Prince  of  Wales ; 
and  another  I  am  to  begin  as  a  companion  to  the  Bacchante.  I  am 
also  to  paint  a  picture  of  Constance  for  the  Shakespeare  Gallery. 
The  weather  has  been  so  very  hot,  and  my  health  so  indifferent,  that 
it  has  rendered  me  almost  unable  to  write.' 

According  to  Hayley,  his  intended  picture  of  Constance  was  never 
begun,  'but  his  Joan  of  Arc  had  a  countenance  of  most  powerful  ex- 
pression. The  head  was  thought  one  of  the  finest,  that  he  ever  painted 
from  the  features  of  his  favourite  model.'  The  poet  could  not  resist  a 
sonnet  in  praise  of  this  picture,  excusing  himself  by  confessing  that 
he  composed  the  lines  'in  a  zealous  wish  to  support  and  encourage 
the  apprehensive  spirits  of  my  friend.  It  was  a  maxim  with  him  that 
every  modest  and  diffident  artist  ought  to  have  almost  a  daily  portion 
of  chearing  applause.  He  considered  honest  and  temperate  praise  as 
the  vital  aliment  of  genius.  I  never  knew  any  mortal  more  feelingly 
alive  to  the  influence  both  of  commendation  and  of  censure ;  of 
esteem,  or  of  neglect.  Even  a  shadow  of  coldness  in  the  deportment 
of  a  person,  from  whom  he  expected  great  cordiality  of  regard,  could 
almost  paralyse  his  powers  as  a  painter.' 

He  proceeds  to  give  an  instance  of  this,  which  happened  only  a 
month  after  Romney  s  last  enthusiastic  letter.  The  artist  went  to 
dine  with  the  Hamiltons.  A  number  of  fashionable  people  were 
present,  and  his  divinity  sang  and  acted  afterwards.  '  She  performed, 
both  in  the  serious  and  comic,  to  admiration,  both  in  singing  and  act- 
ing ;  but  her  Nina  surpasses  every  thing  I  ever  saw,  and  I  believe,  as  a 
piece  of  acting,  nothing  ever  surpassed  it,'  he  told  his  friend.  '  The 
whole  company  were  in  an  agony  of  sorrow.  Her  acting  is  simple, 
grand,  terrible,  and  pathetic.  My  mind  was  so  much  heated,  that  I 
was  for  running  down  to  Eartham  to  fetch  you  up  to  see  her.  But 
alas !  soon  after,  I  thought  I  discovered  an  alteration  in  her  conduct  to 
me.  A  coldness  and  neglect  seemed  to  have  taken  place  of  her 
repeated  declarations  of  regard  for  me.  They  left  town  to  make 
164 


PLA  TE  XXXII I 


THE  COUNTESS  OF  CLANRICARDE 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  SIR  HUGH  P.  LANE 

Page  300 


PLATE  XXX IV 


MISS  RAMUS 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  THE  HON.  VV.   F.  D.  SMITH,  M.P. 

Page  301 


SHE  SITS  AGAIN  TO  ROMNEY 


many  visits  in  the  country.  I  expect  them  again  the  latter  end  of 
this  week,  when  my  anxiety  (for  I  have  suffered  very  much)  will  be 
either  relieved,  or  increased,  as  I  find  her  conduct.  It  is  highly  pro- 
bable, that  none  of  the  pictures  will  be  finished,  except  I  find  her 
more  friendly,  than  she  appeared  the  last  time  I  saw  her.  .  .  .  You 
will  see  every  thing  is  in  great  uncertainty,  but  it  may  turn  out  better 
than  I  expect.' 

Hayley,  whose  belief  in  verses  for  the  cure  of  all  ills  was  in- 
eradicable, hastily  dashed  off  a  couple  of  them,  beginning — 

'  Gracious  Cassandra  !  whose  benign  esteem, 
To  my  weak  talent  every  aid  supplied  '  ; 

which  he  begged  Romney  to  transcribe  and  present  to  the  lady  as 
though  they  were  an  effort  of  his  own  muse.  Their  softening  effect, 
he  thought,  would  prove  instantaneous. 

The  Hayleyan  lines,  however,  were  not  wanted.  Romney  wrote 
to  Eartham  on  August  29th,  that  '  Cassandra  came  to  town  the  16th, 
and  I  did  not  see  her  till  the  20th,  so  you  may  suppose  how  my  feel- 
ings must  have  suffered ;  she  appointed  to  sit  on  the  23rd,  and  has 
been  sitting  almost  every  day  since ;  and  means  to  sit  once  or  twice  a 
day,  till  she  leaves  London,  which  will  be  about  W ednesday  or  Thurs- 
day, in  the  next  week.  When  she  arrived  to  sit,  she  seemed  more 
friendly  than  she  had  been,  and  I  began  a  picture  of  her,  as  a  present 
for  her  mother.  I  was  very  successful  with  it ;  for  it  is  thought  the 
most  beautiful  head,  I  have  painted  of  her  yet.  Now  indeed,  I  think, 
she  is  as  cordial  with  me  as  ever ;  and  she  laments  very  much,  that 
she  is  to  leave  England  without  seeing  you.  I  take  it  excessively 
kind  in  you  to  enter  so  deeply  into  my  distresses.  Really  my  mind 
had  suffered  so  very  much,  that  my  health  was  much  affected,  and  I 
was  afraid,  I  should  not  have  had  power  to  have  painted  any  more 
from  her ;  but  since  she  has  resumed  her  former  kindness,  my  health 
and  spirits  are  quite  recovered.  She  performed  in  my  house  last 
week,  singing  and  acting  before  some  of  the  nobility  with  most 
astonishing  powers;  she  is  the  talk  of  the  whole  town,  and  really 
surpasses  every  thing  both  in  singing  and  acting,  that  ever  appeared. 
Gallini  offered  her  two  thousand  pounds  a  year,  and  two  benefits,  if  she 
would  engage  with  him,  on  which  Sir  William  said  pleasantly,  that  he 
had  engaged  her  for  life.' 

Romney  was  not  the  only  artist  who  was  anxious  to  paint  the 

165 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


portrait  of  a  lady  so  greatly  sought  after  by  the  social  world,  and  of 
such  celebrated  beauty.  From  a  letter  quoted  by  Mr.  G.  S.  Layard 
in  his  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence's  Letter-Bag  (1906),  it  is  evident  that 
Lawrence  desired  to  depict  her  upon  an  important  canvas ;  but  the 
lady  had  so  many  engagements  that  she  could  only  spare  him  an  hour 
or  two,  and  the  irritation  this  caused  him  was  possibly  responsible 
for  his  contemptuous  reference  to  Romney's  portraits  of  her.  It  is 
the  draft  of  a  letter  to  an  unknown  correspondent,  and  runs  : — 

'  Dear  Sir, — Lady  Hamilton  has  left  her  best  portrait  with  you. 
I  found  her  in  town,  too  much  engaged  to  give  me  the  time  I  wished 
for  and  was  necessary,  but  I  must  put  it  down  to  a  good  motive,  viz., 
the  gratitude  to  Mr.  Romney,  whose  portraits  of  her  are  feeble, — more 
shew  the  artist's  feebleness  than  her  grandeur.  This  assertion  to  one 
who  has  been  accustomed  to  hear  me  speak  my  mind  I  trust  will  not 
appear  impudent.— Your  obliged  friend,  Tho.  Lawrence.' 

Mr.  Layard  dates  this  letter  May  1796,  but  this  cannot  be  correct, 
as  Lady  Hamilton  was  not  in  England  between  1791  and  1800.  It  was 
evidently  written  in  the  former  year,  at  about  the  time  when  Lawrence 
made  the  beautiful  sketch  of  her  inscribed  'Emma,  1791,' — an  oval,  in 
which  she  is  shown  in  profile,  looking  up,  her  hair  covered  with  a 
turban, — which  is  in  the  British  Museum. 

The  marriage  took  place  on  September  6th,  at  Marylebone  Church, 
and  was  announced  in  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine  as  follows : — '  Sir 
William  Hamilton,  K.B.,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipo- 
tentiary to  the  Court  of  Naples,  to  Miss  Hart,  a  lady  much  celebrated 
for  her  elegant  accomplishments  and  great  musical  abilities.'  The 
ceremony  was  performed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  Barry,  rector  of 
Elsdon,  Northumberland,  and  the  witnesses  were  Lord  Abercorn,  and 
the  Rev.  Louis  Dutens,  secretary  to  the  English  Minister  at  Turin, 
with  whom  Emma  long  maintained  a  faithful  friendship.  It  is  to  him 
she  refers  in  the  letter  to  Romney,  part  of  which  is  quoted  below : — 
'  As  you  was  so  good  to  say  you  would  give  me  the  little  picture 
with  the  black  hat,  I  wish  you  would  unfrill  (?)  it  and  give  it  to  Mr. 
Duten.  I  have  a  great  regard  for  him.  He  took  a  deal  of  pains  and 
trouble  for  me ;  and  I  could  not  do  him  a  greater  favour  than  to  give 
him  my  picture.  Do,  my  dear  friend,  do  me  that  pleasure  ;  and  if 
there  is  anything  from  Naples,  command  me.' 

The  last  portrait  Romney  painted  of  her  is  said  to  be  the  one  now 
166 


SHE  RETURNS  TO  NAPLES 


known  as  '  The  Ambassadress,'  in  which  she  is  wearing  a  white  dress 
with  a  blue  sash,  and  one  of  those  large  blue  velvet  hats  which 
were  her  favourites,  such  as  Greville  used  to  forward  to  Naples,  in 
meek  obedience  to  her  behests,  after  she  had  become  his  aunt.  The 
story  runs  that  she  gave  him  the  final  sitting  for  this  in  her  wedding 
dress,  immediately  after  her  return  from  church,  and  at  the  conclusion 
of  it,  the  painter  and  his  '  divine  lady '  took  a  tender  farewell  of  one 
another.  This  portrait,  which  has  a  view  of  Vesuvius  in  the  back- 
ground, is  now  in  the  possession  of  Sir  R.  Harvey,  of  Langley  Park, 
Slough. 

The  newly-wedded  pair  started  almost  immediately  for  Naples, 
Queen  Charlotte  remaining  obdurate  to  the  last,  and  refusing  to  re- 
ceive the  bride.  The  memory  of  this  rebuff  was  almost  obliterated  in 
Paris,  where  they  remained  some  days,  and  received  much  kindness  at 
the  hands  of  Marie- Antoinette,  sister  of  the  queen  who  was  to  become 
Lady  Hamilton's  bosom  friend. 

Before  the  end  of  the  year,  Romney  received  the  following  letter 
from  the  lady,  dated  Caserta,  December  26th,  1791 : — 

'  I  have  been  received  with  open  arms  by  all  the  Neapolitans  of 
both  sexes,  by  all  the  foreigners  of  every  distinction.  I  have  been 
presented  to  the  Queen  of  Naples  by  her  own  desire,  she  has  shewn  me 
all  sorts  of  kind  and  affectionate  attentions  ;  in  short,  I  am  the  happiest 
woman  in  the  world.  Sir  William  is  fonder  of  me  every  day,  and  I 
hope  he  will  have  no  corse  to  repent  of  what  he  as  done,  for  I  feel  so 
gratefull  to  him  that  I  think  I  shall  never  be  able  to  make  him  amends 
for  his  goodness  to  me.  But  why  do  I  tell  you  this  ?  You  know  me 
enugh.  You  was  the  first  dear  friend  I  open'd  my  heart  to  ;  you  ought 
to  know  me.  You  have  seen  and  discoursed  with  me  in  my  poorer 
days,  you  have  known  me  in  my  poverty  and  prosperity,  and  I  had  no 
occasion  to  have  liv'd  for  years  in  poverty  and  distress,  if  I  had  not 
felt  something  of  virtue  in  my  mind.  Oh,  my  dear  Friend,  for  a  time, 
I  own  through  distress  my  virtue  was  vanquish 'd,  but  my  sense  of 
virtue  was  not  overcome.  How  gratefull  then  do  I  feel  to  my  dear, 
dear  husband  that  as  restored  peace  to  my  mind,  that  as  given  me 
honoer,  rank,  and  what  is  more,  innocence  and  happiness.  Rejoice 
with  me,  my  dear  Sir,  my  friend,  my  more  than  father ;  believe  me,  I 
am  still  that  same  Emma  you  knew  me.  If  I  could  forget  for  a  moment 
what  I  was,  I  ought  to  suffer.  Command  me  in  anything  I  can  do 
for  you  here ;  believe  me  I  shall  have  a  real  pleasure.  Come  to 
Naples,  and  I  will  be  your  model,  anything  to  induce  you  to  come,  that 

167 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


I  may  have  an  opportunity  to  shew  my  gratitude  to  you.  .  .  .  Tell 
Hayly  I  am  allways  reading  his  Triumphs  of  Temper ;  it  was  that  made 
me  Lady  H.,  for  God  knows  I  had  for  5  years  enugh  to  try  my 
temper,  and  I  am  affraid  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  good  example 
Serena  tought  me,  my  girdle  wou'd  have  burst,  and  if  it  had  I  had 
been  undone ;  for  Sir  W.  more  minds  temper  than  beauty.  He 
therefore  wishes  Mr.  Hayly  wou'd  come,  that  he  might  thank  him 
for  his  sweet-tempered  wife.  I  swear  to  you  I  have  never  been  once 
out  of  humour  since  the  6th  of  last  September.    God  bless  you. — 

'  Yours,  E.  Hamilton.' 

The  passage  in  this  letter — '  You  have  seen  and  discoursed  with 
me  in  my  poorer  days,  you  have  known  me  in  my  poverty  and  pros- 
perity ' — has  been  taken  by  some  writers  as  a  proof  that  Romney 
knew  Emma  before  Greville  brought  her  to  his  studio,  and  that  the 
story  that  he  drew  from  her  when  she  was  with  Dr.  Graham  is  a  true 
one ;  but  it  seems  sufficiently  explained  by  the  difference  in  her 
worldly  condition  in  the  spring  of  1782,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1791. 
The  days  of  the  little  house  in  Edgeware  Row  were  poor  ones  when 
compared  with  those  of  the  Residency  in  Naples,  which  she  occupied  as 
the  honoured  wife  of  the  English  Minister  Plenipotentiary  ;  and  it  must 
be  remembered  that  Greville's  excuse  for  deserting  her  and  for  flinging 
her  into  the  arms  of  his  uncle,  was  the  plea  of  poverty.  This  is  quite 
enough  to  account  for  her  words  in  writing  of  her  new  happiness  to 
her  old  friend. 

Romney's  reply,  included  in  the  Morrison  MSS.,  runs  as  follows : — 
'  My  Dear  Lady, — What  must  you  thinke  of  my  neglect  of  answer- 
ing your  kind  letter  ?  Do  not  accuse  me  of  ingratitud.  I  wish 
I  could  express  myself  as  I  felt  at  the  perusal  of  it,  to  find  your 
happy ness  so  compleat.  May  God  grant  it  may  remane  so  till  the 
end  of  your  days.  You  may  be  assured  that  I  have  the  same  anxiety 
that  Sir  William  and  yourself  should  continue  to  think  well  of  me, 
and  the  same  desire  to  do  everything  in  my  power  that  may  merit 
your  esteem.  I  have  waited  till  I  could  give  you  some  account  of 
the  picter  of  Cassandra,  and  some  other  of  the  pictures  you  were  so 
kind  to  sit  to  me  for.  The  Cassandra  is  at  last  gone  to  the  Shake- 
speare Gallery — it  suits.  The  King  and  Royal  Family  saw  it.  I 
have  never  heard  from  the  Prince  of  Wales,  till  a  few  days  ago 
Mr.  West  called,  and  said  the  Prince  desired  him  to  look  at  the 
168 


ROMNEY'S  DEPRESSION 

picture  for  his  Royal  Hiness.  They  are  near  finished.  The  lively  one 
I  have  made  to  suit  Calipso.  I  am  anxious  to  know  what  you  wish 
me  to  do  with  the  picture  with  a  Bonnet,  as  you  have  not  mentioned 
it  in  your  letter.  Mr.  Crawfurd  has  expressed  a  great  desire  of 
possessing  it  in  prefference  to  the  other.  I  shall  wait  for  your  instruc- 
tions. I  sent  as  your  ladyship  required  the  picter  in  Black  to  du 
Ton.  I  was  led  into  a  thing  that  has  given  me  some  uneasyness, 
I  was  solicited  so  very  strongly  for  a  letter  of  recommendation  to 
your  Ladyship  that  I  was  not  able  to  get  off.  The  person  was  then 
in  Italy,  but  was  not  informed  who  he  was.  I  hope  your  Ladyship 
will  forgive  me  for  taking  such  a  liberty,  and  that  nothing  unpleasant 
happened.' 

Immediately  after  the  Hamiltons  had  left  London  for  Naples, 
Romney  hastened  to  Eartham,  but  he  had  worked  so  hard  at  the 
fair  lady's  pictures  that  he  was  completely  exhausted,  and  could  do 
nothing  but  rest  and  recuperate  in  the  Sussex  air.  He  was  back  in 
town  before  the  end  of  October,  and  wrote  to  his  host  that  he  hoped 
'  in  a  few  days  to  be  able  to  bring  my  mind  into  the  old  trammels  of 
drudgery,  though  it  appears  horrible  to  me  to  take  up  the  trifling 
part  of  my  profession.' 

No  doubt,  at  first,  his  studio  seemed  but  a  dreary  place  now  that  it 
was  no  longer  enlivened  by  the  constant  presence  of  Emma,  and  that 
the  inspiration  upon  which  he  had  for  a  second  time  grown  to  depend 
was  finally  removed.  Something  of  what  he  felt  about  her  is  to  be 
gathered  at  second  hand  from  a  letter  of  Hayley's  addressed  to  her 
eighteen  months  after  Romney's  death,  dated  May  17th,  1804,  in 
which  he  says  : — 

'  You  were  not  only  his  model  but  his  inspirer,  and  he  truly  and 
gratefully  said,  that  he  owed  a  great  part  of  his  felicity  as  a  painter  to 
the  angelic  kindness  and  intelligence  with  which  you  used  to  animate 
his  diffident  and  tremulous  spirits  to  the  grandest  efforts  of  art.' 

Soon  after  this  Hayley  begged  him  to  return  to  Eartham,  to  meet 
Madame  de  Genlis,  who  was  to  stay  there  on  her  way  to  Bath.  He 
was  too  busy  to  go,  however :  '  I  am  now  set  in  for  study.  I  have 
made  a  large  composition  from  Milton,  and  I  wish  to  keep  my  mind 
fixt  to  that  work  as  much  as  possible.  I  hope  you  will  have  influence 
enough  to  persuade  Madame  de  Genlis  to  pass  through  London  in  her 
return,  and  then  I  shall  have  time  I  hope  to  do  something  worthy  of 
notice  from  her  and  Pamela.'    The  lady,  however,  played  the  poet 

169 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


false,  and  went  straight  to  Bath — so  that  the  artist  lost  nothing  by  his 
determination  to  resist  the  temptation. 

Among  the  portraits  he  painted  in  1791  were  Mrs.  St.  George1  and 
child,  and  Mrs.  Morton  Pitt  and  child,  while  about  this  time  he  com- 
pleted the  '  Infant  Shakespeare  nursed  by  Tragedy  and  Comedy,' 
which  was  sold  to  Mr.  Newbery  for  165  guineas;  the  'Dancing 
Bacchante,'  sold  to  Mr.  Christian  Curwen ;  and  '  The  Infant  Shake- 
speare attended  by  Nature  and  the  Passions.' 

There  are  two,  if  not  three,  versions  of  '  The  Infant  Shakespeare 
nursed  by  Tragedy  and  Comedy '  in  existence,  and  several  sketches 
and  studies  for  it  at  Liverpool  and  Cambridge.  The  one  illustrated 
here  belongs  to  Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne,  of  Cranbury  Park, 
Southampton,  and  a  second,  illustrated  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland 
Gower's  book,  is  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Leconfield  at  Petworth. 
This  picture  was  engraved  in  stipple  by  Benjamin  Smith  in  1803,  and 
again  in  stipple  by  Caroline  Watson  in  1809,  of  a  smaller  size,  for 
Hay  ley's  Life.  Mr.  T.  Chamberlayne's  version  was  exhibited  at  the 
Romney  Exhibition  in  1900,  No.  61,  and  in  the  same  exhibition  a 
'  Sketch  for  the  Head  of  Comedy,'  No.  87,  was  lent  by  Miss  B. 
Courteney.  In  a  note  in  the  catalogue  it  stated  that  the  latter  was 
'  Bequeathed  to  Philip  Courteney,  Q.C.,  (the  father  of  the  present 
owner)  by  the  painter,'  and  Miss  Courteney  adds  : — '  My  father  told 
me  he  believed  that  the  model  who  sat  for  this  head  was  "  Nance 
Carey,"  the  mother  of  Edmund  Kean.'  The  '  Comedy '  has  been 
always  looked  upon  as  a  portrait  of  Lady  Hamilton,  to  whom  it  bears 
considerable  resemblance,  but  the  above  statement  may  be  possibly 
correct.  John  Romney,  in  his  life  of  his  father,  does  not  mention 
Lady  Hamilton  in  this  connection.  The  Infant  Shakespeare  was 
painted  from  the  child  of  a  guardsman.2    (See  Plate  xvu.) 

The  '  Infant  Shakespeare  attended  by  Nature  and  the  Passions '  is 
also  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne.  As  already 
stated,  it  was  given  by  Romney  to  the  Boydells.  It  was  engraved  by 
Benjamin  Smith,  and  exhibited  in  the  Shakespeare  Gallery,  and  was 
published  as  a  separate  plate  in  1797.  It  is  thus  described  in  the 
Boydells'  Catalogue : — 

'Nature  is  represented  with  her  face  unveiled  to  her  favourite 
Child,  who  is  placed  between  Joy  and  Sorrow. — On  the  Right-Hand 
of  Nature  are  Love,  Hatred,  and  Jealousy  ;  on  her  Left-Hand,  Anger, 
Envy,  and  Fear.'    A  small  reproduction  of  it  is  given  in  George 

1  Afterwards  Mrs.  Richard  Trench.  2  See  page  268. 

170 


SHAKESPEAREAN  SUBJECTS 


Paston's  Life  of  the  artist.  It  fetched  only  £65  2s.  Od.  at  the  Boy- 
dells'  sale,  to  John  Romney's  great  disgust,  as  he  considered  it  to  be 
one  of  his  father's  most  perfect  works,  and  equal  to  the  best  of 
Correggio's  pictures.  There  is  a  small,  carefully-finished  study  for  this 
picture  in  the  Shakespeare  Memorial,  Stratford-on-Avon,  No.  39,  on 
a  panel,  about  24  inches  by  18  inches,  which  was  presented  by  Mr. 
Henry  Graves.  The  heads  are  said  to  be  portraits  of  well-known 
people,  such  as  Lady  Hamilton,  Mrs.  Siddons,  and  Kemble. 

In  November  of  this  year  he  painted  Hayley's  son  Tom  at  the  age 
of  eleven,  as  '  Robin  Goodfellow,'  flying  on  a  cloud,  crowned  with  a 
chaplet  of  the  flower  which  Oberon  had  commissioned  him  to  find. 
Tom  wrote  to  Mrs.  Hayley  in  the  following  February  to  tell  her  that 
'  We  are  much  diverted  with  the  observation  of  the  lady  who  took  the 
clouds  in  the  picture  for  a  muff.  The  fairy  is  represented  as  flying 
triumphantly  through  the  air,  having  executed  the  commission  of  his 
king  Oberon  to  fetch 

'a  little  western  flower, 
Before  milk  white,  now  purple  with  Love's  wound.' 

Our  dear  painter  was  in  doubt,  when  he  left  London,  whether  he 
should  introduce  this  purple  flower  in  the  hand,  or  tied  as  a  garland 
round  the  head  of  the  flying  fairy.    Perhaps  he  forgot  to  introduce  it.' 

John  Romney  gives  the  date  of  this  picture  as  1789,  but  this  is 
wrong,  for  Hayley  himself  went  to  London  to  meet  his  son  on  his 
return  from  a  visit  to  Derbyshire,  when  the  portrait  was  painted,  and 
gives  the  date  in  his  memoirs  of  the  boy.1 

On  December  30th,  Dr.  Potter,  the  Greek  scholar,  wrote  from 
Suffolk  urging  Romney  to  finish  and  send  to  him  the  portrait  of  his 
son,  who  was  so  ill  that  he  was  not  expected  to  live  long.  Twelve 
months  later,  on  December  17th,  1792,  Dr.  Potter  wrote  again  from 
'  Lowestot,'  acknowledging  a  letter  of  Romney's,  and  expressing  his 
pleasure  that  he  is  soon  to  receive  his  son's  portrait.  The  youth,  how- 
ever, had  died  in  the  previous  February. 

At  the  beginning  of  1792  Romney  was  in  better  health.  Madame 
de  Genlis  was  in  London,  and  he  was  delighted  to  have  an  opportunity 
of  returning  to  her  and  to  Pamela  some  little  of  the  kindness  he  had 
received  from  them  in  Paris.    He  went  with  them  to  the  play  on 

1  This  picture  was  bequeathed  by  Hayley  to  Captain  Godfrey,  or  bought  in  by  him  at  Hayley's 
sale  in  1821.  His  grandson  sold  it,  with  three  other  works  by  Romney,  at  Christie's,  on  May 
12th,  1888,  when  it  was  purchased  by  Mr.  M.  Colnaghi  for  £105.  It  was  exhibited  at  the  Royal 
Academy  Winter  Exhibition,  1877,  No.  212.    It  is  29  inches  by  24  inches. 

171 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


more  than  one  occasion.  Hayley  was  too  ill  to  come  up  to  town,  so 
Romney  wrote  to  tell  him,  on  January  28th, — '  I  am  painting  two 
pictures  of  Pamela,  and  I  think  they  will  be  both  beautiful.  As  they 
are  two  different  views  of  her  face,  one  of  course  will  be  better  than 
the  other,  and  I  shall  give  Madame  de  Genlis  her  choice  of  them.' 

These  portraits  shared  the  fate  of  so  many  of  Romney's  pictures. 
In  spite  of  his  good  intentions  they  were  never  even  half  finished,  and 
the  one  he  began  of  the  elder  lady  remained  a  mere  sketch.  Towards 
the  end  of  his  life  he  gave  it  to  Hayley,  who  had  it  engraved  by 
Caroline  Watson  for  his  Life.    (See  Plate  xvin.) 

Of  the  portraits  of  Pamela,  the  better  known  one,  which  is  repro- 
duced in  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell's  book,  is  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  H.  L. 
Bischoffsheim.  This  is  the  one  which,  according  to  John  Romney, 
the  painter  gave  to  Hayley,  the  other  being  bought  many  years 
afterwards  by  Lord  Dunlo  (the  Earl  of  Clancarty)  for  Lady  Conolly. 
The  second,  now  belonging  to  Sir  G.  Campbell,  of  Thames  Ditton,  one 
of  her  descendants,  forms  the  frontispiece  to  Edward  and  Pamela 
Fitzgerald  by  Gerald  Campbell,  published  in  1904.  It  is  an  oval, 
showing  the  head  and  shoulders.  She  is  looking  up,  her  head  turned 
to  the  spectator's  right,  and  wears  a  white  dress  cut  low  at  the  neck, 
and  a  scarf  round  her  hair,  which  is  unpowdered,  and  curls  on  her 
forehead  and  neck.  It  is  of  much  the  same  style  as  several  of  Romney's 
unfinished  studies  of  Lady  Hamilton.  The  background  is  dark. 
There  is  another  portrait  of  Pamela  with  her  two  children  which  is 
wrongly  ascribed  to  Romney. 

Romney  wrote  to  his  son,  on  February  4th,  that  he  had  preserved 
his  health  by  '  using  a  flesh-brush,  dipt  in  salt  water,  and  brushing 
myself  all  over  every  morning,  and  after  that  rubbing  myself  with  a 
rough  towel,  which  has  contributed  much  to  my  health  and  spirits.' 
He  gives  an  account  of  all  his  doings,  from  which  it  is  to  be  gathered 
that  he  was  far  from  being  the  recluse  some  writers  have  suggested,  for 
among  other  things,  he  says  : — '  I  have  dined  out  often,  and  had  people 
at  dinner.'  After  speaking  of  the  pictures  of  Lady  Hamilton  he  has 
been  working  on,  he  adds: — 'I  have  made,  and  am  making  designs  from 
Milton ;  and  mean  to  make  several  before  I  begin  to  paint  them,  but  it 
is  quite  a  secret." 

About  this  time  he  was  much  occupied  with  these  designs  from 
Milton,  and,  according  to  Hayley,  persuaded  the  latter  to  write  a  life 
of  the  poet  to  be  prefixed  to  a  folio  edition  of  Milton's  works  which 
Boydell  and  Nicoll  proposed  to  publish.     To  oblige  his  'beloved 
172 


WILLIAM   COWPER  AND  HAYLEY 


associate '  Hayley  virtuously  abandoned  a  projected  visit  to  Flaxman 
in  Rome.  '  Romney  imagined  that  his  friend's  compliance  with  their 
very  earnest  desire,  would  induce  them,  as  the  pay  masters  of  the 
Shakespeare  Gallery,  to  behave  to  him  with  the  greater  kindness  and 
liberality,  concerning  the  many  important  pictures,  that  he  himself  had 
thoughts  of  executing  for  the  adventurous  proprietors  of  that  splendid 
undertaking.  The  heart  of  Hayley  was  so  truly  interested  in  the 
professional  glory  of  the  admirable  painter,  whose  apprehensive  spirit 
he  comforted  and  cheered  for  many  years,  that  Romney 's  anxious 
wish,  and  his  own  inclination  to  vindicate  Milton  from  the  malignant 
asperity  of  his  biographer,  Johnson,'  induced  him  to  give  up  Italy  and 
take  up  this  fresh  work  in  its  place,  for  which,  no  doubt,  Romney  was 
already  projecting  a  number  of  grand  designs. 

At  this  time  he  was  also  busily  engaged  in  his  spare  moments  in 
making  a  number  of  slight  studies  for  a  picture  of  *  The  Banquet 
Scene '  from  Macbeth,  which  he  was  anxious  to  paint  for  the  Shake- 
speare Gallery,  but  through  some  feeling  that  the  Boydells  were  not 
very  enthusiastic  about  it,  he  eventually  abandoned  it. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year  (1792),  Hayley  made  the  personal 
acquaintance  of  William  Cowper.  The  poet  of  Weston  was  then 
hard  at  work  translating  Milton's  Latin  and  Italian  poems,  which 
were  to  be  published  with  illustrations  by  Fuseli.  The  bard  of 
Eartham  was  at  the  same  time  busily  engaged  upon  the  Life  of 
Milton,  already  mentioned,  for  Boydell's  forthcoming  sumptuous 
edition  of  the  poet's  works.  It  was  hinted  in  the  newspapers  that  the 
two  writers  were  rivals.  On  hearing  these  rumours  Hayley  dashed 
off  the  inevitable  sonnet  to  Cowper,  with  a  letter  assuring  him  of  his 
ignorance  of  the  latter's  undertaking.  Other  friendly  letters  followed 
on  both  sides.  W riting  on  April  6th,  Cowper  says  : — '  God  grant 
that  this  friendship  of  ours  may  be  a  comfort  to  us  all  the  rest  of  our 
days,  in  a  world  where  true  friendships  are  rarities,  and  especially 
where  suddenly  formed  they  are  apt  soon  to  terminate !  But  as  I 
said  before,  I  feel  a  disposition  of  heart  towards  you  that  I  never  felt 
for  one  whom  I  had  never  seen  ;  and  that  shall  prove  itself,  I  trust,  in 
the  event,  a  propitious  omen.' 

Hayley  paid  his  first  visit  to  Weston  in  the  middle  of  May.  While 
there,  Cowper's  aged  friend,  Mrs.  Unwin,  with  whom  he  resided,  was 
seized  with  a  severe  paralytic  stroke,  and  the  visitor  made  himself 
useful  both  in  cheering  his  new  friend's  spirits,  and  in  suggesting 
remedies,  such  as  electricity,  for  the  invalid. 

173 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


The  return  visit  was  made  to  Eartham  in  August.  Cowper 
regarded  it  as  'a  tremendous  exploit.'  For  more  than  twenty-six 
years  he  had  hardly  moved  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Olney  and 
Weston.  '  Once,'  he  says,  writing  to  Newton,  '  I  have  been  on  the 
point  of  determining  not  to  go,  and  even  since  we  fixed  the  day ;  my 
troubles  have  been  so  insupportable.  But  it  has  been  made  a  matter 
of  much  prayer,  and  at  last  it  has  pleased  God  to  satisfy  me,  in  some 
measure,  that  His  will  corresponds  with  our  purpose,  and  that  He  will 
afford  us  His  protection.' 

On  the  eve  of  departure  he  wrote  to  Hayley  in  a  similar  strain  : — 
'  Could  you  have  any  conception  of  the  fears  I  have  had  to  bustle 
with,  of  the  dejection  of  spirits  that  I  have  suffered  concerning  this 
journey,  you  would  wonder  much  more  that  I  still  courageously 
persevere  in  my  resolution  to  undertake  it.  Fortunately  for  my 
intentions,  it  happens,  that  as  the  day  approaches  my  terrors  abate ; 
for  had  they  continued  to  be  what  they  were  a  week  since,  I  must, 
after  all,  have  disappointed  you.  ...  I  have  told  you  something  of 
my  nocturnal  experiences,  and  assure  you  now,  that  they  were  hardly 
ever  more  terrific  than  on  this  occasion.  Prayer  has  however  opened 
my  passage  at  last.  .  .  .  The  terrors  that  I  have  spoken  of  would 
appear  ridiculous  to  most,  but  to  you  they  will  not,  for  you  are  a 
reasonable  creature,  and  know  well  that,  to  whatever  cause  it  be 
owing,  (whether  to  constitution,  or  to  God's  express  appointment),  I 
am  hunted  by  spiritual  hounds  in  the  night  season.  I  cannot  help  it. 
.  .  .  So  much  for  fears  and  distresses.  Soon  I  hope  they  shall  all 
have  a  joyful  termination,  and  I,  my  Mary,  my  Johnny,  and  my  dog, 
be  skipping  with  delight  at  Eartham.' 

The  travellers  set  forth  on  the  first  of  the  month — Cowper,  Mrs. 
Unwin,  John  Johnson,  his  young  cousin,  whom  he  called  his  Johnny 
of  Norfolk,  his  man  Sam,  and  his  dog  Beau — and  their  journey  was 
made  easier  for  them  by  such  kind  friends  as  Samuel  Rose,  General 
Cowper,  and  Thomas  Carwardine,  who  met  them  at  various  points  on 
the  route,  so  that  by  the  third  evening  they  were  all  safe  and  sound  at 
their  destination. 

In  the  Sussex  air  Mrs.  Unwin  grew  better  and  was  able  to  walk  a 
little,  and  whenever  she  grew  weary  she  rode  in  a  little  chaise  which 
was  drawn  about  the  lanes  by  Sockett  and  Tom  Hayley,  and  pushed 
from  behind  by  Cowper  or  Johnson.  Young  Thomas  Sockett  had 
been  brought  back  from  Weston  Underwood  by  Hayley.  He  was  the 
174 


PLATE  XXX  V 


MISS  BENEDETTA  RAMUS 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  THE  HON.   W.   F.    D.  SMITH,  M.P. 

Page  301 


PLATE  XX XVI 


LADY  AUGUSTA  MURRAY 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  MR.  CHARLES  J.  WERTHEIMER 

P"ge  302 


PORTRAIT   OF  COWPER 


son  of  one  of  those  obscure  village  geniuses,  whose  inventions  bring 
them  no  profit,  from  whom  Hay  ley  had  borrowed  the  electrical  machine 
for  the  alleviation  of  Mrs.  Unwin.  Cowper  had  interested  himself  in 
the  son,  who  had  first  attracted  his  notice  by  investing  his  pocket- 
money  in  a  Latin  grammar.  He  was  anxious  to  find  employment,  and 
on  Cowper's  advice,  Hayley  engaged  him  as  a  companion  and  teacher 
to  his  boy  Tom. 

The  host  was  naturally  anxious  that  his  new  and  his  old  friend 
should  meet  under  his  roof,  and  suggested  that  the  artist  might  com- 
bine business  and  pleasure  by  painting  the  portrait  of  one  of  his 
neighbours,  Sir  Richard  Hotham,  the  '  Knight  of  Bognor,'  during  the 
visit,  but  Romney  remained  firm  in  his  resolution  to  refrain  from 
commissions  of  such  a  nature  during  his  annual  holiday,  though 
afterwards  he  painted  a  full-length  of  the  'commercial  knight'  in 
London. 

He  wrote  in  reply  on  the  sixth  of  the  month  saying  that  he  hoped 
to  come  down  in  a  few  days'  time.  '  I  certainly  do  not  visit  you  with 
an  intention  to  play,  but  to  study.  ...  I  have  been  very  deep  in 
study  for  some  time  past.  I  have  gone  every  morning  to  Kilburn  to 
breakfast,  which  contributed  much  to  my  health,  and  to  the  produc- 
tion of  a  great  many  of  my  best  studies.' 

No  sooner  did  the  two  men  meet  than  Romney  felt  greatly 
attracted  by  Cowper's  character,  and  took  real  pleasure  in  his  society. 
He  was  eager  to  take  the  poet's  portrait,  which  he  did  in  coloured 
crayons,  a  mode  of  painting,  according  to  his  host,  in  which  he  had 
little  experience,  'but  he  possessed  that  happy  versatility  of  talent, 
which  gave  him  an  appearance  of  having  been  long  familiar  with  any 
process  of  art,  that  he  had  an  inclination  to  try.  He  worked  with 
uncommon  diligence,  zeal,  and  success,  producing  a  resemblance  so 
powerful,  that  spectators  who  contemplated  the  portrait  with  the 
original  by  its  side,  thought  it  hardly  possible  for  any  similitude  to  be 
more  striking,  or  more  exact.  Romney  wished  to  express  what  he 
often  saw  in  studying  the  features  of  Cowper, 

"  The  poet's  eye  in  a  fine  frenzy  rolling." 

And  I  think  he  expressed  it  without  overstepping  the  modesty  of 
truth  and  nature,  but  some  persons,  and  ladies  in  particular,  more 
conversant  with  the  colloquial,  than  with  the  poetic  countenance  of 
Cowper,  have  supposed  Romney's  portrait  of  him  to  border  on 
extravagance  of  expression.'    (See  Plate  xix.) 

175 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Cowper  himself  thought  the  portrait  to  be  a  good  one,  and  saw 
nothing  of  the  '  air  of  wildness  in  it  expressive  of  a  disordered  mind, 
which  the  shock  produced  by  the  paralytic  attack  of  Mrs.  Unwin  was 
rapidly  impressing  on  his  countenance.'  In  comparing  it  with  his 
portrait  by  Lemuel  Abbott,  painted  only  a  month  earlier,  he  says : — 
'  Romney  has  succeeded  well  in  drawing  my  head  only,  but  my  head 
in  a  different  aspect,  little  more  than  a  profile ' ;  and  in  a  letter  to 
Lady  Hesketh  from  Eartham,  dated  August  26th,  1792,  he  says  of 
it : — '  Romney  has  drawn  me  in  crayons,  and  in  the  opinion  of  all  here 
with  his  best  hand,  and  with  the  most  exact  resemblance  possible.' 

It  is  almost  entirely  in  red  and  black  crayon,  with  touches  of 
brown.  The  coat  is  only  indicated  with  hasty  strokes,  but  the  face  is 
carefully  worked  up,  and  the  complexion  of  a  ruddy  colour.  It  is  a 
strong  and  powerful  likeness,  but  there  is  undoubtedly  a  startled 
expression  about  the  eyes.  Cowper  is  wearing  the  cap  he  was 
accustomed  to  use  in  a  morning,  which  was  presented  to  him  by  Lady 
Hesketh.  He  has  immortalised  this  gift  in  his  lines  entitled 
'  Gratitude  '— 

'  This  cap,  that  so  stately  appears, 

With  ribbon-bound  tassel  on  high, 
Which  seems  by  the  crest  that  it  rears, 

Ambitious  of  brushing  the  sky  ; 
This  cap  to  my  cousin  I  owe, 

She  gave  it,  and  gave  me  beside, 
Wreathed  into  an  elegant  bow, 

The  ribbon  with  which  it  is  tied.' 

The  portrait  remained  in  Hayley's  possession  until  his  death,  and 
was  by  him  bequeathed  to  the  poet  s  cousin,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Johnson,  who  edited  Hayley's  own  Memoirs.  It  remained  in  the 
possession  of  the  Johnson  family  until  1906,  when  it  was  presented  to 
the  National  Portrait  Gallery  by  Mrs.  H.  R.  Vaughan  Johnson.  In 
1801  William  Blake  made  a  miniature  copy  of  it  for  Hayley,  and 
engraved  it  for  the  first  volume  of  Hayley's  Life  of  Cowper,  the 
quarto  edition  published  in  1803  ;x  and  it  was  also  engraved  by 
Caroline  Watson  for  the  octavo  edition  of  1806.    It  was  exhibited  at 

1  Hayley,  writing  to  Romney  on  3rd  February,  1801,  tells  his  friend  that  'I  have  taught  him 
(Blake),  he  says,  to  paint  in  miniature,  and  in  truth  he  has  made  a  very  creditable  copy  from  your 
admirable  portrait  of  the  dear  departed  bard,  from  which  he  will  also  make  an  engraving.' 
Romney  had  great  admiration  for  Blake's  powers  of  design,  as  may  be  gathered  from  a  letter  from 
Flaxman  to  Hayley,  written  about  1784,  in  which  he  says,  el  have  before  mentioned  that  Mr. 
Romney  thinks  his  historical  drawings  rank  with  those  of  Michael  Angelo.' 

176 


PORTRAITS  OF  COWPER 


South  Kensington  in  1868,  (No.  777),  by  Mr.  H.  R.  Vaughan 
Johnson. 

There  is  a  second  portrait  of  Cowper  by  Romney  in  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery  :  a  small  oil  painting,  which  was  purchased  by  Messrs. 
Agnew  and  Sons  at  Miss  Romney 's  sale  in  1894.  No  history  is 
attached  to  this  picture.  '  It  had  been  for  years,'  writes  Mr.  Lawrence 
Romney,  '  in  one  of  the  attics  at  Whitestock  Hall,  and  was  covered 
with  house-dirt,  and  part  of  the  paint  had  peeled  off.  When  looking 
over  the  sketches  and  other  pictures  in  preparation  for  the  1894  sale, 
I  thought  it  might  well  be  meant  for  a  portrait  of  Cowper,  but  as  I 
was  not  certain,  I  had  it  catalogued  merely  as  "  A  Head  (possibly 
Cowper)."  Sir  George  Scharf  saw  it  and  liked  it,  and  tried  to  persuade 
his  Trustees  to  buy  it,  but  they  would  not,  and  so  he  purchased  it 
himself  from  Messrs.  Agnew,  had  it  done  up,  and  presented  it  to  the 
National  Portrait  Gallery.  He  told  me  this  himself,  and  Mr.  Lionel 
Cust  has  since  informed  me  that  Sir  George  examined  a  great  number 
of  portraits  of  Cowper,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  this  was  an 
undoubted  likeness  of  the  poet.'  It  is  stated  in  Lord  Ronald  Suther- 
land Gower's  book,  in  which  it  is  reproduced,  that  it  was  painted  at 
Eartham  in  1792,  but  no  evidence  is  brought  forward  in  proof  of 
this. 

Three  portraits  of  Cowper  were  included  in  the  Guelph  Exhibition, 
1891,  two  by  Lemuel  F.  Abbott,  and  one  attributed  to  Romney.  The 
larger  of  the  two  by  Abbott,  No.  353,  was  lent  by  the  Rev.  W.  Cowper 
Johnson,  a  descendant  of  the  poet's  cousin.  It  is  the  one  which  was 
painted  at  Weston  a  few  weeks  before  Cowper's  visit  to  Eartham,  of 
which  he  wrote  to  Hayley  in  July,  1792  : — Well,  this  picture  is  at  last 
finished,  and  well  finished,  I  can  assure  you.  Every  creature  that  has 
seen  it  has  been  astonished  at  the  resemblance.  Sam's  boy  bowed  to 
it,  and  Beau  walked  up  to  it,  wagging  his  tail  as  he  went,  and  evidently 
showing  that  he  acknowledged  its  likeness  to  his  master.  It  is  half- 
length,  as  it  is  technically  but  absurdly  called  :  that  is  to  say,  it  gives 
all  but  foot  and  ankle.'  He  also  sent  the  following  doggerel  lines 
about  it  to  Hayley  : — 

'  Abbott  is  painting  me  so  true 

That  (trust  me)  you  would  stare 
And  hardly  know,  at  the  first  view, 
If  I  was  here  or  there.' 


Cowper  also  wrote  to  his  friend  Mr.  Bull  in  the  same  strain  : — '  How 

G.  B.— 12  i  iyiy 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


do  you  imagine  I  have  been  occupied  these  last  ten  days  ?  In  sitting, 
— not  on  cockatrices'  eggs,  nor  yet  to  gratify  a  mere  idle  humour,  nor 
because  I  was  too  sick  to  move  ;  but  because  my  cousin  Johnson  has 
an  aunt  who  has  a  longing  desire  of  my  picture,  and  because  he  would 
therefore  bring  a  painter  from  London  to  draw  it.  For  this  purpose  I 
have  been  sitting,  as  I  say,  these  ten  days,  and  am  heartily  glad  that 
my  sitting  time  is  over.' 

The  poet  is  represented  seated  at  a  desk,  in  the  dress  of  the  Throck- 
morton Archery  Club,  a  green  coat  and  buff  waistcoat  and  breeches, 
of  which  he  says  in  one  of  his  letters  : — '  Green  and  buff  are  colours  in 
which  I  am  oftener  seen  than  in  any  others,  and  are  become  almost  as 
natural  to  me  as  to  a  parrot,  and  the  dress  was  chosen  principally  for 
that  reason.' 

His  cousin  and  others  thought  this  portrait  to  be  a  better  likeness 
than  either  Romney's  Or  the  sketch  made  by  Lawrence  in  the  following 
year. 

The  smaller  portrait  exhibited  at  the  Guelph  Exhibition  and 
attributed  to  Abbott,  No.  302,  lent  by  Mr.  G.  P.  Boyce,  in  which  the 
poet  is  wearing  a  black  cloak,  grey  waistcoat,  and  black  cap,  is 
probably,  according  to  Mr.  Thomas  Wright,  the  well-known  biographer 
of  Cowper,  a  spurious  one.  The  third  example  No.  220,  a  half-length, 
in  a  black  coat  and  red  cap,  lent  by  Mr.  Percival  Boxall,had  the  follow- 
ing note  attached  to  it  in  the  catalogue : — '  This  picture  was  presented 
by  Romney  to  his  friend  William  Hayley,  of  Felpham,  Sussex,  and  was 
brought  from  thence  with  the  portrait  of  Anna  Seward  (see  No.  231).' 
Romney  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  portrait,  and  as  Mr.  W.  Roberts 
points  out  in  an  interesting  contribution  on  the  Portraits  of  Cowper  to 
the  Athenaeum  for  February  17th,  1900,  an  absolutely  false  history  is 
attached  to  it.  The  only  portrait  of  the  poet  by  Romney  possessed  by 
Hayley,  was  the  one  now  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

Mr.  Roberts,  however,  has  himself  fallen  into  error,  for  he  speaks  of 
the  genuine  portrait  by  Abbott,  No.  353,  as  attributed  to  Romney,  and 
says  that  it '  has  no  claim  to  have  inspired  Cowper's  sonnet  to  Romney ' : 
whereas  the  catalogue  gives  it  to  its  rightful  author,  and  only  claims 
for  it — quoting  from  Hayley's  Life  and  Posthumous  Writings  of 
William  Cowper,  vol.  ii.  pp.  63,  64, — that  it  inspired  the  doggerel 
lines  quoted  above. 

During  Cowper's  visit  to  Eartham  the  two  poets  not  only  worked 
178 


COWPER  AT  EARTHAM 


at  Homer,  but  revised  and  corrected  all  Cowper's  translations  from  the 
Latin  and  Italian  poetry  of  Milton.  Each  day  after  dinner  they 
amused  themselves  by  making  a  rapid  metrical  translation  of  Andreini's 
'  Adamo,'  the  poem  which  suggested  to  Milton  the  design  for  '  Paradise 
Lost.'  This  was  afterwards  included  among  Cowper's  works  as  '  Adam, 
a  drama.' 

Another  visitor  at  Eartham  this  year  was  Mrs.  Charlotte  Smith,  the 
novelist,  who  came  over  from  Brighton,  on  purpose  to  meet  Cowper. 
During  her  stay  she  was  busily  at  work  on  her  novel,  The  Old  Manor 
House.  This  lady  was  a  ready  and  rapid,  if  indifferent,  writer.  '  The 
exquisite  faculties  of  the  unhappy  Charlotte,'  her  host  tells  us,  '  were 
naturally  quick  ;  and  perhaps  their  natural  quickness  was  heightened  by 
a  laudable  ambition  of  shining  before  such  a  judge  of  talents  as  Cowper, 
who  possessed  in  the  highest  degree,  both  acuteness  and  candour.  It 
was  a  recreation,  peculiarly  sweet  after  a  busy  morning,  to  hear  the 
novelist  read  the  new  pages  of  her  work ;  for  she  read,  as  she  wrote, 
with  simplicity  and  grace.  Romney,  who  had  long  admired  her  genius, 
and  pitied  her  troubles,  was  delighted  to  find  her  still  capable  of  such 
mental  activity  under  such  a  load  of  misfortunes,  and  testified  his  esteem 
for  her  writings  by  executing  a  portrait  of  the  authoress.  This  he  drew 
also  in  coloured  crayons.  It  has  a  plaintive  air  and  it  is  certainly  an 
expressive  likeness,  but  it  was  unavoidably  a  work  of  haste,  and  there- 
fore, as  a  production  of  art,  it  is  by  no  means  equal  to  his  more  studied 
portrait  of  Cowper.  Romney  himself  considered  his  portrait  of  Cowper 
as  the  nearest  approach  that  he  had  ever  made  to  a  perfect  representa- 
tion of  life  and  character.' 

Miss  Seward,  however,  had  a  less  exalted  opinion  of  Mrs.  Smith's 
talents,  and  always  wrote  scornfully  of  her  claims  to  be  regarded  as  a 
poetess.  '  I  forget,'  she  says  in  a  letter  to  Theophilus  Swift,  dated 
July  9th,  1789, '  if  ever  I  spoke  to  you  about  Mrs.  C.  Smith's  everlasting 
lamentables,  which  she  calls  sonnets,  made  up  of  hackneyed  scraps  of 
dismality  with  which  her  memory  furnished  her  from  our  various  poets. 
Never  were  poetical  whipt  syllabubs,  in  black  glasses,  so  eagerly 
swallowed  by  the  odd  taste  of  the  public' 

During  this  visit,  Guy,  the  Chichester  surgeon,  was  often  at 
Eartham,  and  Cowper  was  greatly  attracted  by  him.  He  also  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  for  the  first  time  in  the  flesh  his  correspondent,  the 
Rev.  James  Hurdis,  who  dabbled  in  poetry,  in  which,  to  the  best  of  his 
ability,  he  imitated  the  greater  man,  for  whose  work  he  had  the  highest 
admiration.    His  '  Village  Curate,'  once  popular,  is  now  completely 

179 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


forgotten.  '  He  is  gentle  in  manner,'  Cowper  told  Lady  Hesketh, 
'  and  delicate  in  his  person,  resembling  our  poor  friend  Unwin,  both  in 
face  and  figure,  more  than  any  one  I  have  ever  seen.' 

Hayley,  although  he  kept  the  portrait  of  Cowper,  presented  him  in 
exchange  with  his  own  '  picture  drawn  by  Romney  about  fifteen  years 
ago,  an  admirable  likeness,'  as  the  recipient  informed  Lady  Hesketh. 
The  donor  delayed  to  despatch  it  to  Weston  for  so  long  that  Cowper 
began  to  think  it  was  never  coming.  '  I  began  to  be  restless  about  your 
portrait,'  he  wrote,  '  and  to  say,  How  long  shall  I  have  to  wait  for  it  ? 
I  wished  it  here  for  many  reasons  :  the  sight  of  it  will  be  a  comfort  to 
me,  for  I  not  only  love  but  am  proud  of  you,  as  of  a  conquest  made  in 
my  old  age.  Johnny  goes  to  town  on  Monday,  on  purpose  to  call  on 
Romney,  to  whom  he  shall  give  all  proper  information  concerning  its 
conveyance  hither.' 

It  arrived  at  last,  on  January  20th,  1793.  'Had  you  come,  and 
come  without  notice,  too,'  Cowper  wrote  in  acknowledgment,  'you 
would  not  have  surprised  us  more,  than  (as  the  matter  was  managed) 
we  were  surprised  at  the  arrival  of  your  picture.  It  reached  us  in  the 
evening,  after  the  shutters  were  closed,  at  a  time  when  a  chaise  might 
actually  have  brought  you  without  giving  us  the  least  previous 
intimation.  Then  it  was,  that  Samuel,  with  his  cheerful  countenance, 
appeared  at  the  study  door,  and  with  a  voice  as  cheerful  as  his  looks, 
exclaimed,  "  Mr.  Hayley  is  come,  Madam  !  "  We  both  started,  and 
in  the  same  moment  cried,  "  Mr.  Hayley  come  !  And  where  is  he  ? " 
The  next  moment  corrected  our  mistake,  and,  finding  Mary's  voice 
grow  suddenly  tremulous  1  turned  and  saw  her  weeping.'  This  portrait 
of  Hayley  is  thought  by  Lord  Ronald  Gower  to  be  the  one  repro- 
duced in  his  book ;  it  belongs  to  Professor  Waldstein. 

Cowper  was  anxious  to  make  some  return  to  Romney  for  his  own 
likeness,  and  made  more  than  one  attempt  while  at  Eartham  to  put  his 
feelings  into  verse,  but  found  such  writing  impossible  away  from 
Weston.  Even  after  returning  home  the  task  still  remained  a  difficult 
one.  On  October  13th,  he  wrote  to  Hayley: — 'The  name  of  a  man 
whom  I  esteem  as  I  do  Romney  ought  not  to  be  unmusical  in  my  ears  ; 
but  his  name  will  be  so  till  I  have  paid  him  a  debt  justly  due  to  him, 
by  doing  such  poetical  honours  to  it  as  I  intend.  Heaven  knows  when 
that  intention  will  be  executed,  for  the  muse  is  still  obdurate  and  coy 
as  ever.' 

He  satisfied  himself  at  last,  however,  and  on  November  28th,  he 
180 


COWPER'S  SONNET  TO  ROMNEY 


sent  the  result  to  Hayley  with  a  letter,  asking  him  to  forward  it  to  the 
painter.  '  I  must  premise,'  he  told  him,  '  that  I  intended  nothing  less 
than  a  sonnet  when  I  began.  I  know  not  why  I  said  to  myself,  "  It 
shall  not  be  a  sonnet " ;  accordingly  I  attempted  it  in  one  sort  of 
measure,  and  then  in  a  second,  then  in  a  third,  till  I  had  made  the  trial 
in  half  a  dozen  different  kinds  of  shorter  verse,  and  behold  it  is  a  sonnet 
at  last.    The  fates  would  have  it  so.' 

It  is  the  only  contemporary  effort  worthy  of  the  name  of  poetry 
which  Romney's  art  inspired,  standing  out  with  distinction  amid  the 
great  mass  of  Hayley 's  commonplace  and  trivial  verse.  It  runs  as 
follows : — 

'TO  GEORGE  ROMNEY  Esq. 

'On  his  picture  of  me  in  crayons,  drawn  at  Eartham,  in  the  sixty-first  year  of  my  age, 
and  in  the  months  of  August  and  September,  1792. 

'  Romney,  expert  infallibly  to  trace 

On  chart  or  canvas,  not  the  form  alone 
And  semblance,  but  however  faintly  shown, 

The  mind's  impression  too  on  every  face  ; 

With  strokes  that  time  ought  never  to  erase, 
Thou  hast  so  pencilled  mine,  that  though  I  own 
The  subject  worthless,  I  have  never  known 

The  artist  shining  with  superior  grace. 

But  this  I  mark, — that  symptoms  none  of  woe 

In  thy  incomparable  work  appear. 
— Well ;  I  am  satisfied  it  should  be  so, 

Since,  on  maturer  thought,  the  cause  is  clear ; 

For  in  my  looks  what  sorrow  could'st  thou  see 
When  I  was  Hayley's  guest,  and  sat  to  thee?' 

On  the  same  date,  November  28th,  Cowper  wrote  himself  to  the 
artist : — '  Since  I  left  Eartham  nothing  has  occurred  that  has  given  me 
so  much  pleasure  as  the  arrival  of  your  fine  picture  of  our  most  amiable 
friend  Hayley;  and  your  kindness  in  sending  me  what  the  box  contained 
beside,  gratifies  me  in  the  highest  degree,  convincing  me  that  I  am  not 
forgotten  by  one  whom  I  shall  always  remember  with  affection.  All 
arrived  safe,  and  for  all  I  thank  you.  My  young  cousin  has  told  me  by 
letter  how  kindly  you  behaved  to  him  when  he  called  on  you.  For  this 
I  thank  you  likewise,  for  I  love  him  and  have  great  reason  to  do  so.  It 

181 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


was  a  very  sensible  mortification  to  me  that  I  could  not  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you  at  your  own  house  in  my  way  through  London  ; 
but  the  danger  of  offending  others  whom  I  should  have  been  obliged  to 
pass  un visited,  deterred  me.  The  happy  day  I  hope  will  come  when 
you  will  make  me  amends  for  what  I  lost  for  that  severe  necessity,  by 
giving  us  your  company  at  Weston.  Happy  indeed  should  I  be  to  see 
you  here,  and  the  hope  of  it,  which  you  gave  me  encouragement  to 
entertain,  is  too  pleasant  to  be  slightly  parted  with.  Hayley  will  be 
called  to  London  sometime  in  the  course  of  the  coming  year,  and  a 
chaise  will  bring  you  easily  in  seven  hours.  A  little  relaxation  will  be 
good  for  you,  and  your  enjoying  it  here  will  be  equally  good  for  me. 
.  .  .  Adieu,  God  bless  you  !   Believe  me,  affectionately  yours, 

'  Wm.  Cowper.' 

It  was  to  this  visit  to  Eartham  that  Romney's  picture  of  '  Milton 
and  his  two  Daughters '  owed  its  origin.  Both  poets  were  deep  in  the 
study  of  Milton's  poems,  and  Romney,  who  had  already  been  planning 
subjects  from  them,  found  his  enthusiasm  rekindled  in  theirs.  This 
acquaintance  with  Cowper  also  inspired  a  subject  from  Tlie  Task. 
'He  painted  about  this  time,'  (1793),  says  John  Romney,  'also  the 
Death  of  Ophelia,  and  Susan,  from  the  ballad  "  When  the  Seas  were 
roaring";  neither  of  which  was  in  a  finished  state.'  This  last  was 
probably  a  version  of  the  picture  known  to-day  as  '  Lady  Hamilton 
as  Ariadne,'  in  which  she  is  represented  seated  in  a  cave  by  the  sea, 
in  a  despondent  attitude,  with  hands  pressed  together  on  her  lap,  and 
eyes  cast  down,  and  wearing  a  plain  straw  hat  and  simple  white  dress 
— the  picture  now  belonging  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sir  Audley  Neeld, 
Bart.,  M.P.  It  was  probably  suggested  by  the  extract  from  Cowper 's 
poem,  beginning : — 

'  A  serving-maid  was  she,  and  fell  in  love 
With  one  who  left  her,  went  to  sea,  and  died  ; 
Her  fancy  followed  him  through  foaming  waves 
To  distant  shores,  and  she  would  sit  and  weep 
At  what  a  sailor  suffers.' 

It  was  engraved  in  line  by  C.  Brome  and  T.  Bragg,  and  is  known 
in  two  states,  the  first  unfinished,  with  no  inscription,  but  scratched 
'  Painted  by  G.  Romney.  Engraved  by  C.  Brome,'  and  the  other, 
which  was  published  in  1827,  with  the  title  '  Kate,'  in  open  letters, 
which  was  the  name  of  Cowper's  heroine,  and  a  verse  from  the  poem 
underneath  it.  This  picture  may  be  the  one  which  realised  twenty- 
182 


DAILY   LIFE  AT   EARTH  AM 


nine  guineas  at  the  Romney  sale  in  1807,  when  it  was  called  'The 
Dying  Damsel'  in  the  ballad  '  'Twas  when  the  Seas  were  Roaring.'1 
More  than  one  version  of  it  exists,  one  of  them  being  in  the  collection 
of  Mr.  W.  A.  Coats,  of  Glasgow.  Romney  probably  painted  it  from 
some  study  of  Lady  Hamilton.  Several  unfinished  canvases,  called 
'  Absence  '  and  '  Solitude,'  which  were  included  in  the  1807  sale, 
appear  to  have  been  studies  or  variations  of  this  picture. 

A  letter  which  Romney  wrote  to  his  son  on  his  return  to  town, 
gives  so  good  an  idea  of  the  daily  life  at  Eartham  that  a  part  of  it 
may  be  quoted  here  : — 

'  I  have  not  been  able  till  very  lately  to  say  much  in  favour  of  my 
health ;  but,  thank  God,  1  am  now  well  recovered  from  a  very 
unhealthy  and  uncomfortable  summer.  I  was  near  a  month  at 
Mr.  Hayley's,  where  I  met  Mr.  Cowper,  and  Mrs.  Smith  ;  and  yet 
in  spite  of  such  good  company,  and  bathing,  my  health  continued  very 
poorly.  Mr.  Cowper  is  a  most  excellent  man  ;  he  has  translated 
Milton's  Latin  Poems,  and  I  suppose  very  well.  Hayley  is  writing 
the  life  of  Milton,  so  you  may  imagine  that  we  were  deep  in  that 
poet ;  every  thing  belonging  to  him  was  collected  together,  and  some 
part  of  his  works  read  every  day.  Mrs.  Smith  is  writing  another 
Novel,  which,  as  far  as  it  is  advanced,  is,  I  think,  very  good.  She 
began  it  while  I  was  there,  and  finished  one  volume.  She  wrote  a 
chapter  every  day,  which  was  read  at  night,  without  requiring  any 
correcting.  I  think  her  a  woman  of  astonishing  powers.  She  has 
two  daughters  grown  to  womanhood,  a  son  in  the  East  Indies,  and 
another  at  Winchester  school ;  and  she  supports  them  almost  wholly 
by  her  writing.  She  and  the  two  poets  were  employed  every  morning 
from  eight  o'clock  till  twelve  in  writing,  when  they  had  a  luncheon,  and 
walked  an  hour ;  they  then  wrote  again  till  they  dressed  for  dinner. 
After  dinner  they  (Hayley  and  Cowper)  were  employed  in  translating 
an  Italian  Play  on  the  subject  of  Satan ;  about  twenty  lines  was  the 
number  every  day.  After  that  they  walked,  or  played  at  Coits  ;  then 
tea,  and  after  that  they  read  till  supper  time.  This  was  their  general 
plan  of  each  day.  I  mention  this  as  an  example  of  the  most  rational 
employment  of  time,  and  of  the  greatest  industry.' 

The  Weston  party  remained  at  Eartham  for  more  than  six  weeks, 
but  the  painter  was  back  again  in  London  early  in  September.  In  the 
intervals  snatched  from  portrait-painting  he  continued  to  busy  him- 
self with  studies  for  his  projected  picture  of  the  '  Banquet  Scene ' 

1  See  pages  2-'30  and  232,  and  Plate  xx. 

183 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 

from  Macbeth.    Earlier  in  the  year,  in  the  spring,  he  had  made  a 
beginning  with  his  picture  of  '  Milton  and  his  Two  Daughters  ' ;  this 
at  least,  is  the  date  given  by  Hayley,  but  if  it  be  true  that  it  owed  its 
origin  to  '  those  attic  conversations  at  Eartham,'  as  John  Romney 
states,  it  cannot  have  been  begun  before  the  autumn.    It  was  finished 
in  the  autumn  of  1793  and  purchased  by  Mr.  Whitbread,  largely  on 
the  advice  of  Charles  James  Fox,  whom  he  took  to  see  it.  The 
Boy  dells  gave  Romney  fifty  guineas  for  the  right  of  reproducing  it, 
and  it  was  engraved  in  stipple  by  Benjamin  Smith,  and  published  on 
the  4th  June  1795.    This  engraving  is  reproduced  in  Mrs.  Gamlin's 
book.     It  represents  the  blind  poet  seated  in  an  arm-chair,  covered 
with  a  long  cloak,  and  dictating  Paradise  Lost  to  his  two  daughters, 
one  of  whom  is  writing,  while  the  other  holds  an  open  volume,  and 
is  gazing  at  her  father.    Some  years  after  painting  it  Romney  received 
a  set  of  verses  upon  it  from  an  unknown  correspondent,  a  Mr.  J. 
Cooper,  as  '  an  acknowledgment  for  the  pleasure  he  has  received  from 
the  exquisite  composition '  a  print  of  which  had  just  been  presented 
to  him.    The  picture  still  remains  in  the  possession  of  the  original 
purchaser's  family.    He  had  in  contemplation  at  this  time  a  series  of 
works  of  a  similar  kind,  each  one  dealing  with  some  celebrated  person ; 
but  '  Newton  Displaying  the  Prismatic  Colours '  was  the  second,  and 
the  last,  subject  of  the  intended  set  that  he  actually  painted.  Two 
others  that  he  had  in  view  were  Lord  Bacon,  collecting  snow  for  an 
experiment,  and  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  in  his  old  age,  carried  by  his 
servant,  as  was  his  annual  custom,  into  the  centre  of  St.  Paul's  so  that 
he  might  survey  his  handiwork. 

'  But  these  with  a  thousand  other  projects  of  art,  that  floated  in 
the  busy  mind  of  my  friend,  were  destined  to  perish  without  being  so 
fortunate  as  to  assume  the  shapes,  that  he  hoped  to  give  them,'  says  his 
poetic  biographer,  who  suggests  that  the  exceptional  activity  which  he 
noticed  in  the  working  of  Romney 's  imagination  in  1792,  may  have 
been  partly  due  to  the  death  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  in  the  February 
of  that  year. 

This  event,  he  was  of  opinion,  '  rather  quickened  than  relaxed  the 
ambition  of  Romney.  He  felt  all  the  merits  of  his  great  departed 
predecessor,  and  was  anxious  so  to  employ  the  precarious  residue  of 
his  own  impaired  health,  that  he  might  also  hope  for  a  considerable 
portion  of  posthumous  regard.' 

In  the  following  November  we  get  the  first  intimation  of  a  project 
with  which  Romney  was  much  occupied  for  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
184 


PLATE  XXXVll 


MRS.  BLANSHARD 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  Mil.   C.  S.  PEMHERTON 

Page  302 


GEORGE  AND  KATHERINE  CORNEWALL 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  THE  LATE  REV.  SIR  GEORGE  H.  CORNEWALL,  BT. 

Page  307 


HIS  COLLECTION  OF  CASTS 


a  project  which  gave  him  not  only  much  anticipatory  pleasure,  but  also 
an  infinite  amount  of  worry.  In  the  course  of  a  letter  to  Eartham, 
he  states  : — '  I  am  just  now  in  treaty  for  a  piece  of  ground  to  build  a 
painting  room.'  His  first  plan  was  to  build  himself  a  larger  and  more 
commodious  studio  two  or  three  miles  out  of  London,  not  only  for  his 
own  greater  convenience,  but  for  the  purpose  of  founding  there  an 
academy  for  the  training  of  young  artists  under  his  own  supervision. 

Among  other  incidents  of  1792,  he  received  a  letter  from  Miss 
Seward,  on  July  6th,  addressed  to  her  '  beloved  and  honoured  Titiano,' 
asking  if  it  would  be  possible  for  a  young  man  of  her  acquaintance, 
one  Dodd,  of  Lichfield,  to  become  his  pupil.  The  youth,  however, 
does  not  seem  to  have  entered  Romney's  studio. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  he  added  very  considerably  to  his 
collection  of  casts  from  antique  sculptures.  -  Having  lately  devoted 
more  of  his  time  to  historical  painting  in  consequence  of  the  Shakspeare 
Gallery,'  writes  his  son,  '  he  began  to  experience  a  want  of  casts  to  aid 
his  memory,  and  to  correct  the  imperfections  of  nature  in  studying  the 
Nude;  he,  therefore,  sent  to  his  friend  Flaxman  at  Rome,  one  hundred 
pounds,  and  commissioned  him  to  purchase  to  that  amount  such  as  he 
should  deem  the  best  and  most  suitable,  according  to  his  experienced 
judgment  and  taste.' 

The  sculptor  gladly  carried  out  his  wishes.  On  September  12th, 
he  sent  word  that  he  had  just  despatched  4  ten  large  cases  of  plaister 
casts '  by  ship  from  Leghorn,  having  spent  several  months  in  collecting 
them ;  '  and  I  think  I  have  sent  you  the  cream  of  the  finest  things  in 
Rome,  as  far  as  the  money  would  go.'  Among  those  purchased  were 
copies  of  the  Laocoon — the  Apollo  Belvedere — Castor  and  Pollux — 
Cupid  and  Psyche — Apollo  as  the  Lizard-killer — the  bas-relief  on  the 
Borghese  vase — a  bas-relief  of  the  destruction  of  Niobe's  children — 
several  busts — and  'all  the  best  fragments  of  legs  and  arms.' 

'  Mr.  Romney  had  great  pleasure  in  studying  and  contemplating 
these  casts,' continues  his  filial  biographer;  'and  I  have  known  him 
sometimes  have  evening  parties  in  his  private  painting-room,  when  he 
suspended  a  powerful  lamp  over  the  Laocoon,  which,  by  its  descending 
rays,  gave  a  bold  relief  to  the  muscles  and  prominences  of  the  figures, 
and  a  terrific  grandeur  to  the  group  altogether,  approaching  to  some- 
thing like  reality.'  He  also  explained  to  his  son  a  scheme  he  had 
devised  for  illuminating  the  stage  of  a  theatre  from  above  in  a  similar 
way. 

185 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Included  among  his  portraits  of  1792  were  a  group  of  the  two  children 
of  Mr.  Fazakerley,  a  half-length,  and  one  of  Thomas  Paine,  painted  for 
Dr.  Thomas  P.  Cooper,  of  Manchester,  who  emigrated  with  his  family  to 
America  about  the  year  1797,  taking  the  portrait  with  him.  He  be- 
came president  of  the  South  Carolina  College,  and  after  his  death  in 
1840,  the  portrait  is  said  to  have  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  Mr.  Matsell, 
an  official  of  Brooklyn,  New  York.  At  this  period  it  was  looked  upon 
as  a  work  from  the  brush  of  John  Wesley  Jarvis,  in  whose  house  Paine 
resided  in  1806  ;  but  Mr.  Moncure  D.  Conway,  who  lent  the  picture 
for  a  time  to  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  in  1897,  considered  it  to  be 
the  original  portrait  of  Paine  by  Romney,  and  gave  his  reasons  for  this 
belief  in  a  communication  to  the  Athenaeum  (June  26th,  1897,  p.  848). 
The  portrait  presented  to  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  in  1892  by 
Mr.  Henry  Willett  is  by  Auguste  Milliere  after  Romney.  John 
Romney  was  of  opinion  that  this  was  '  one  of  the  finest  heads  ever 
produced  by  pencil,  both  for  professional  skill,  and  physiognomical 
expression.  The  character  is  simple,  but  vulgar ;  shrewd,  but  devoid 
of  feeling.'  It  was  engraved  by  William  Sharp  in  the  spring  of  1793, 
the  only  engraver  of  the  day,  according  to  the  artist's  son,  who  could 
do  justice  to  his  father's  painting. 

On  January  5th,  1793,  he  wrote  to  Hay  ley  : — '  My  plaister  figures 
are  unpacked,  and  I  am  charmed  with  them,  both  for  the  choice,  and 
the  perfection  of  the  casts.  I  shall  have  one  of  the  finest  Museums  in 
London  for  antique  sculpture.'  He  also  speaks  of  some  friend  who 
had  wounded  him  deeply.  '  He  accused  me  of  neglecting  my  portraits, 
and  of  vanity  in  doing  things  that  do  not  turn  to  account.  O  what  a 
damper !  he  likes  money  better  than  fame ;  but  no  more !  I  am 
afraid  I  am  troublesome  ;  you  will  see  I  have  been  wounded,  and 
excuse  me.' 

As  the  years  rolled  on,  Hayley  still  continued  to  deluge  Romney 
with  suggestions  for  pictures.  In  the  foregoing  letter  he  is  thanked 
for  the  '  descriptions  of  the  picturesque  prison  scenes  which  will 
produce  new  ideas  in  my  mind.'  In  February  the  painter  tells  him 
that  '  when  you  can  send  me  a  hint  for  a  picture,  you  encrease  my 
pleasure  in  a  great  degree.'  In  June  Hayley  proposed  that  Cowper, 
Romney,  and  Hodges  should  collaborate  in  '  some  considerable  con- 
federate work.'  In  reply,  Romney  wrote — 'Your  humble  servant 
will  be  glad  to  lend  his  hand  to  any  work  within  his  power.  I  told 
you  before  that  I  had  new  plans  in  my  mind  ;  and  I  am  now  putting 
186 


PLANS  TO   BUILD   A  STUDIO 


them  into  execution :  I  have  taken  lodgings  in  a  new  garden  ground, 
on  the  Kilburn  road,  where  I  breakfast  every  morning,  and  where 
I  work  two  hours  in  advancing  my  designs  (for  my  series  of  large 
pictures).  I  have  advanced  them  very  much,  and  expect  to  complete 
them  before  summer  is  over.  I  have  formed  a  plan  of  building  a 
painting  room,  which  perhaps  may  be  the  first  stone  of  a  theatre, 
as  it  may  join  to  a  plan  of  that  sort,  when  I  wish  to  take  it  up. 
Indeed  spending  my  mornings  in  this  way,  has  led  me  to  form  various 
schemes  and  plans,  which  neither  you,  nor  any  body  else  would 
suppose.' 

Romney  had  considerable  muscular  strength,  and  was  anxious  to 
do  everything  that  he  could  to  keep  himself  in  good  health,  but  his 
habits  of  work  continually  counteracted  these  efforts,  more  particularly 
at  the  beginning  of  summer,  when  he  was  pressed  to  finish  a  number 
of  pictures,  and  when  the  hot  weather  made  the  added  exertion  very 
trying.  Hence  this  increasing  desire  for  a  residence  outside  London. 
On  July  6th,  in  writing  to  thank  Hayley  for  his  suggestion  of  the 
advantage  of  horse  exercise,  he  says :  '  I  would  pursue  any  plan  to 
enjoy  health  and  spirits,  if  it  was  ever  so  laborious,  for  I  have  been  so 
overcome,  with  lassitude,  that  I  had  no  power  to  do  any  thing,  though 
not  ill.'  He  adds  that  he  is  too  busy  to  visit  Eartham  at  present. 
On  the  18th  he  is  in  better  spirits,  and  regrets  that  he  cannot  join  his 
friend  while  Gibbon,  the  historian,  is  with  him.  He  again  mentions 
Hayley 's  scheme  of  some  work  in  collaboration  with  '  tender-minded 
Cowper,'  and  is  flattered  with  the  prospect  of  sharing  in  it.  '  I  continue 
to  go  to  my  little  villa  to  breakfast,  and  make  designs  every  morning, 
which  has  been  a  delightful  relief  this  hot  weather.  I  have  eight 
children  to  wait  on  me,  and  fine  ones.  I  begin  to  feel  the  necessity 
of  having  these  innocent  little  spirits  about  one,  they  give  more  soft 
delight  to  the  mind  than  I  can  describe  to  soften  the  steps  down 
declining  life.' 

These  were  the  children  of  an  honest  couple  in  humble  circumstances 
in  whose  house  the  artist  hired  a  room  in  which  to  take  breakfast  and 
work  at  his  designs,  for  seven  shillings  and  sixpence  a  week.  He 
proved  to  be  the  good  angel  of  these  worthy  people,  for  when  on  one 
occasion  he  found  the  whole  family  on  the  point  of  being  turned  out 
into  the  street,  homeless  and  penniless,  for  a  debt  of  £200,  he  at  once 
advanced  the  money  and  relieved  them  of  the  burden.  '  The  charity 
of  Romney,'  comments  Hayley,  '  was  not  only  great,  but  genuine ; 

187 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


for  it  was  often  conducted  with  absolute  privacy,  and  never  with 
ostentation.' 

On  August  2nd  he  wrote  to  Eartham  : — '  I  have  seen  the  book  of 
prints  for  the  Odyssey,  by  our  dear  and  admirable  artist  Flaxman. 
They  are  outlines  without  shadow,  but  in  the  style  of  antient  art. 
They  are  simple,  grand,  and  pure ;  I  may  say  with  truth,  very  fine. 
They  look  as  if  they  had  been  made  in  the  age,  when  Homer  wrote.' 
A  few  days  later  he  tells  his  correspondent : — '  I  long  to  hasten  down 
to  you,  and  tell  you  all  my  feelings  and  complaints,  and  to  strip  myself 
of  drudgery  in  the  shabby  part  of  my  art,  for  a  while  at  least ;  and  I 
should  be  happy  if  I  could  do  so  without  ever  taking  it  up  again.' 

He  followed  his  letter  shortly  afterwards,  and  remained  until  the 
middle  of  September,  taking  a  very  needful  rest,  and  as  much  air  and 
exercise  as  possible.  On  his  return,  however,  he  was  again  plunged  in 
the  depths  of  depression,  as  may  be  gathered  from  an  epistle  to  Hayley 
sent  from  '  Pine  Apple  Place,'  as  he  named  the  Kilburn  cottage. 

Lord  Egremont  called  on  him  soon  after  he  was  back,  for  the 
purpose  of  suggesting  that  he  should  paint  a  picture  for  him,  when  next 
he  was  at  Eartham.  Romney  was  only  too  pleased  to  undertake  some- 
thing of  the  kind,  as  he  had  a  great  desire  to  see  one  of  his  own  works 
among  the  many  fine  canvases  at  Petworth.  In  giving  this  piece  of 
news  to  Hayley,  he  adds — '  I  have  begun  two  pictures,  since  I  returned, 
both  in  the  Corregiesque  style.' 

On  October  11th,  writing  to  the  same  correspondent,  he  tells  him  : — 
'  I  am  delighted  with  the  ideas  you  have  suggested.  I  must  say  you 
are  more  happy  in  forming  in  your  mind  subjects  suitable  for  pictures, 
than  all  the  men  of  learning  and  taste,  I  ever  met  with,  put  together. 
I  shall  be  ever  grateful  for  those  you  have  suggested  at  various  times 
for  my  improvement  and  pleasure,  and  request  you  will  never  neglect 
me  in  that  point.  ...  If  you  and  Cowper  would  join  in  a  work  with 
prints,  from  designs  of  Flaxman,  and  your  humble  servant. — But  more 
of  this  when  I  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you.' 

On  December  12th,  he  mentions  other  projects  for  pictures : — 'I 
have  been  low  some  days  past,  which  prevented  my  writing.  I  had 
not  power ;  perhaps  it  is  the  weather  that  affects  me.  Yet  I  have  not 
been  negligent  in  my  ideas  of  pictures.  I  have  been  arranging  some 
of  the  subjects  in  the  Seven  Ages,  and  think  I  shall  be  able  to  make 
some  of  them  out  soon.  Then  I  mean  to  send  them  to  you  for  your 
188 


THE  'INDIAN  WOMAN' 


approbation.  I  think  of  making  my  pictures  the  size  of  my  Indian 
woman,  and  the  number  of  the  set  twelve.  What  do  you  think  of 
the  plan  ? ' 

One  of  his  favourite  projects  at  this  period  of  his  life  was  to  paint 
a  set  of  pictures  showing  the  whole  life  of  man,  from  birth  to  death, 
though  with  no  intention  of  confining  himself  closely  to  Shakespeare's 
lines.  '  Romney  was  willing  to  take  a  leading  idea  from  one  of  our 
great  poets,  but  he  had  an  excursive  vigour  and  richness  of  fancy,  that 
made  him  delight  in  adding  images  of  his  own  creation  to  those,  that 
were  furnished  by  the  author,  from  whom  he  caught  the  ground  work 
of  his  intended  composition.'1  The  only  one  of  the  series  which  he 
began  to  paint,  the  '  Infant,'  was  never  finished.  It  represented  a 
mother,  reclining  on  a  couch,  surrounded  by  attendants,  clasping  her 
child  to  her  breast,  while  the  husband,  '  a  young  man  of  florid  health 
in  the  habiliments  of  a  hunter,'  was  stooping  down  to  kiss  the  two 
before  setting  out  for  the  chase. 

The  picture  of  the  '  Indian  Woman,'  mentioned  in  this  letter,  taken 
from  Shakespeare's  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  was  painted  in  the 
winter  of  1793,  and  bought  by  William  Beckford,  of  Fonthill,  in  1797, 
for  300  guineas,  and  '  afterwards  sold  in  his  first  sale  to  a  gentle- 
man, I  believe  of  Dorsetshire,  for  nearly  the  same  sum,'  says  John 
Romney. 

This  canvas,  which  his  son  thought  '  one  of  the  most  exquisite  of 
Mr.  Romney 's  pictures,'  represented  Titania  and  the  Indian  Woman, 
a  votaress  of  her  order,  and  was  suggested  by  the  lines  from  A  Mid- 
summer Nighfs  Dream,  Act  n.,  Scene  1,  beginning 

'  When  we  have  laugh'd  to  see  the  sails  conceive, 
And  grow  big-bellied  with  the  wanton  wind.' 

Romney  made  a  sketch  of  the  subject  in  oil-colours  at  Eartham, 
which  he  gave  to  young  Tom  Hayley.  '  He  afterwards  painted  the 
subject  with  variations  on  a  larger  canvas,  of  a  different  shape,  with 
great  care  and  felicity.  There  is  infinite  lustre,  gaiety,  and  tenderness 
in  the  fanciful  composition,'  is  Hayley 's  verdict. 

Cumberland,  speaking  of  the  same  picture  says: — 'Mr.  Beckford, 
of  Fonthill,  has  The  Indian  Woman  contemplating  a  Ship  at  Sea, 
and  imitating  the  Action  of  the  Sails,  as  distended  by  the  Wind :  the 
image  is  caught  from  Shakspeare,  and  the  character,  scenery,  and 
execution  are  beautiful.' 

1  Hayley,  page  208. 

189 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


This  picture  must  not  be  confused  with  one  now  in  the  Shake- 
speare Memorial,  Stratford-on-Avon,  No.  15,  which  was  presented 
by  Mr.  Charles  E.  Flower.  This  is  a  canvas  4  ft.  2^  in.  x  3  ft.  8| 
in.,  representing  '  Titania  Reposing  with  her  Indian  Votaries.'  It 
illustrates  the  lines  in  Act  n.,  Scene  2,  of  A  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream  :— 

'  Come,  now  a  roundel,  and  a  fairy  song ; 
Then,  for  the  third  part  of  a  minute,  hence  ; 
Some  to  kill  cankers  in  the  musk-rose  buds; 
Some  war  with  rere-mice  for  their  leathern  wings, 
To  make  my  small  elves  coats ;  and  some  keep  back 
The  clamorous  owl  that  nightly  hoots  and  wonders 
At  our  quaint  spirits.    Sing  me  now  asleep ; 
Then  to  your  offices,  and  let  me  rest.' 

Titania  is  shown  reclining  on  the  ground  in  a  sitting  posture  by 
the  edge  of  a  pool  in  the  wood  near  Athens,  nude  to  the  waist,  look- 
ing towards  the  spectator  with  her  face  resting  on  her  hands.  To  the 
right  a  band  of  dusky  musicians  beguile  the  queen  with  music,  and 
in  the  background  two  small  fairies  are  attacking  the  '  rere-mice.' 
The  figure  of  Titania,  which  the  Stratford  catalogue  says  is  a  portrait 
of  Lady  Hamilton,  is  finished,  but  the  rest  of  the  composition  only 
sketched  in.  The  catalogue  also  states  that  it  was  formerly  in  the 
Beckford  collection,  but  this  is  probably  a  mistake,  the  author  of  the 
statement  having  confused  this  canvas  with  the  '  Indian  Votaress ' 
picture  which  was  once  at  Fonthill.  It  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Flower 
at  a  sale  of  pictures  at  some  actors'  club  in  London. 

The  Stratford  picture  is  evidently  one  of  the  numerous  unfinished 
studies  which  Romney  made  from  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream  about 
1793,  of  which  John  Romney  speaks  in  the  following  passage,  after 
describing  the  '  Indian  Votaress  '  picture  : — 

'  He  painted  about  this  time,  also,  the  Death  of  Ophelia,  and 
Susan,  from  the  ballad  of  "  When  the  Seas  were  roaring "  ;  neither 
of  which  was  in  a  finished  state.  And  those  various  unfinished 
pictures,  representing  Titania  under  different  circumstances,  and  in 
different  attitudes ;  one  of  which,  a  beautiful  naked  figure,  I  regret 
much  that  I  did  not  reserve  from  the  sale.  It  was,  in  truth,  a  very 
fairy.  It  represented  her  reposing  in  her  bower,  and  in  a  state  of 
somnolency;  and,  if  1  remember  rightly,  Bottom  sleeping  by  her 
side.  All  these  except  one,  were,  I  believe,  bought  by  artists ;  and 
have,  I  have  no  doubt,  contributed  essentially  to  improve  the  taste 
190 


TITANIA,  PUCK  AND  THE  CHANGELING ' 


of  the  succeeding  generation  of  painters.  The  one  excepted  was 
that  of  Titania,  Puck  and  the  Changeling,  purchased  by  Sir  John 
Leicester.' 

This  last  named  picture,  which  was  No.  119  in  the  Romney  sale  of 
1807,  was  described  in  the  catalogue  as  '  Titania,  the  Changeling  and 
Puck  on  a  Seashore,  unfinished :  a  surprising  Picture  of  Poetical 
Sportive  Invention,  treated  with  Corregiesque  taste  and  magic  effect, 
one  of  the  happiest  efforts  of  the  Artist ! '  In  John  Romney 's  own 
copy  of  the  sale  catalogue  it  is  marked  as  bought  in  at  65  guineas,  so 
that  possibly  Sir  John  Leicester  acquired  it  shortly  afterwards.  At 
Sir  John's  own  sale,  when  Lord  de  Tabley,  in  1827,  it  was  bought 
by  Mr.  Walter  Russell,  of  Ham  Hall,  for  155  guineas,  and  when  he, 
in  turn,  sold  his  pictures  in  1875,  it  was  purchased  by  Messrs.  Agnew 
for  230  guineas,  from  whom  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Miss  Romney. 
At  her  sale  in  1894  it  was  bought  for  205  guineas  for  the  National 
Gallery  of  Ireland.  It  was  engraved  in  stipple  by  Edward  Scriven 
in  1810,  and  this  engraving  is  reproduced  in  George  Paston's  Life  of 
the  artist. 

It  represents,  on  the  left,  the  'lovely  boy  stolen  from  an  Indian 
king '  naked  on  his  back  on  the  sea  sand,  with  Puck,  another  nude 
figure,  playfully  holding  his  left  foot.  On  the  right  Titania  reclines, 
facing  the  spectator,  resting  on  her  elbows,  her  chin  in  her  two  hands, 
bare  to  the  waist,  a  white  fillet  round  her  hair,  and  the  lower  half  of  her 
body  covered  with  red  drapery.  She  is  smiling,  and  her  face  is  an 
evident  recollection  of  Lady  Hamilton. 

A  smaller  and  less  finished  study  for  this  picture  was  included  in 
the  1807  sale,  No.  102,  'A  fine  study  for  the  Titania,  Changeling,  and 
Puck,  richly  coloured,'  which  fetched  12  guineas.  Titania's  attitude 
in  this  picture  and  in  the  one  at  Stratford  are  not  alike,  though  in 
each  case  the  head  is  supported  by  the  hands ;  but  it  is  very  possible 
that  the  latter  is  an  earlier  study  laid  aside  in  favour  of  the  '  Seashore ' 
group.  The  Stratford  picture  itself  was,  there  is  little  doubt,  also 
in  this  sale,  No.  105,  '  Titania  Reposing,  unfinished,  an  elegant  and 
poetical  study,'  which  likewise  fell  at  12  guineas.  It  is  very  pro- 
bable that  this  picture  is  the  one  which  John  Romney  wished  he 
had  reserved. 

Romney  s  studio  was  just  as  crowded  throughout  1793  as  it  had 
been  ten  years  earlier,  but  his  rapidly  failing  health  made  the  work  of 
portrait  painting  more  irksome  than  ever,  so  that  many  unfinished 

191 


GEORGE  KOMNEY 

canvases  were  added  to  those  which  already  blocked  up  the  passages 
and  corners  of  his  house.  In  a  letter  to  his  brother,  Colonel  Romney, 
written  some  time  in  1793,  he  complains  rather  bitterly  of  this:  'My 
health  is  not  at  all  constant — my  nerves  give  way,  and  I  have  no  time 
to  go  in  quest  of  pleasure  to  prevent  a  decline  of  health.  My  hands 
are  full  and  I  shall  be  forced  to  refuse  new  faces  at  last,  to  be  enabled 
to  finish  the  numbers  I  have  in  an  unfinished  state.  I  shall  regret  the 
necessity  of  forbearing  to  take  new  faces.  There  is  a  delight  in  the 
novelty  greater  than  in  the  profit  gained  by  sending  them  home  finished  ; 
but  it  must  be  done.' 

Among  his  portraits  of  1793  were  the  two  whole-lengths  of  the 
Margrave  and  Margravine  of  Anspach,  another  of  the  Rt.  Hon.  Henry 
Dundas,  for  the  University  of  Aberdeen,  and  the  Horsley  children. 


192 


XVII 


ON  January  10th,  1794,  Romney  wrote  thus  to  Hayley : — '  My 
Ophelia  is  nearly  finished,  and  the  Seven  Ages  are  going  on 
well.   I  mean  to  paint  the  first  directly — but  silence  ! '  About 
a  month  later,  he  continued  in  the  same  strain  : — 

'I  had  formed  a  plan  of  painting  the  Seven  Ages,  and  also  the 
Visions  of  Adam  with  the  Angel,  to  bring  in  the  flood,  and  the 
opening  of  the  ark,  which  would  make  six  large  pictures  (but  this  is 
a  profound  secret).  Indeed  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  have  made  designs 
for  all  the  pictures,  and  very  grand  subjects  they  are.  I  beg  no  human 
creature  may  have  a  hint  of  it.  My  plan  was,  if  I  should  live  and  retain 
my  senses  and  sight,  to  paint  six  other  subjects  from  Milton :  three 
where  Satan  is  the  hero,  and  three  of  Adam  and  Eve.  Perhaps  six  of 
each.  I  have  ideas  of  them  all,  and  I  may  say  sketches  ;  but  alas !  I 
cannot  begin  any  thing  for  one  year  or  two,  and  if  my  name  was  men- 
tioned, I  should  hear  nothing  but  abuse,  and  that  I  cannot  bear.  Fear 
has  been  always  my  enemy.  My  nerves  are  too  weak  for  supporting 
anything  in  public' 

Romney,  when  in  good  humour,  would  jest  about  this  extravagant 
timidity,  which  at  other  times  made  him  so  miserable.  '  His  imagina- 
tion was  indeed  singularly  used  to  start  and  tremble  at  phantoms  of  its 
own  creation ;  but  in  a  field  of  battle  I  am  persuaded  he  would  have 
shewn  not  only  manly  valour,  but  even  a  spirit  of  adventurous  heroism," 
is  the  verdict  of  his  friend. 

In  May,  Hayley,  on  a  visit  to  London,  found  him  in  very  indifferent 
health.  Shortly  after  the  bard's  return  home,  Romney  sent  word  that 
he  was  better,  and  that  soon  he  would  begin  to  look  about  him,  and 
jostle  in  the  world  again.  'Yes!  and  bend  my  bow  at  those,  that  kick  and 
tread  upon  me.  It  is  a  hard  fate  that  a  painter  is  obliged  to  live  in  a 
state  of  warfare,  and  jostling.  I  never  more  earnestly  wished  myself  out 
of  the  bustle  of  business  than  at  present.  O  for  tranquillity  and  peace  ! ' 
In  July  he  wrote  in  better  spirits,  saying  that  he  was  about  to  visit  the 
Isle  of  Wight  with  his  son  and  a  young  friend  of  the  latter's,  and 

G.  R.-13  193 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


hoped  to  call  at  Eartham  by  the  way,  and  again  when  returning 
home.  He  also  suggested  that  Hayley  and  his  son  should  join  them 
in  a  tour  he  was  projecting  in  Holland,  as  he  wished  to  purchase 
pictures  there.    This  latter  plan,  however,  was  given  up. 

Father  and  son  remained  at  Cowes  about  three  weeks,  making 
excursions  to  different  parts  of  the  island.  Romney  wrote  several 
letters  to  Hayley  during  this  holiday,  in  one  of  which  he  said — '  I 
have  a  plan  in  contemplation  of  a  little  academy  next  winter  in  the 
room  under  my  gallery.  I  think  Flaxman  will  approve  of  it.  The 
advantage  will  be  much  greater,  when  each  can  set  his  figures,  as 
suits  him,  and  with  the  quiet  of  only  three  persons.'  This  idea,  in 
Hayley 's  opinion,  originated  in  Romney 's  desire  to  help  the  former  s 
son,  who  had  a  great  wish  to  become  a  sculptor ;  and  the  two  friends 
were  anxious  that  the  lad  should  make  a  beginning  as  a  pupil  of 
Flaxman. 

In  August  it  was  the  turn  of  the  painter  to  endeavour  to  cheer  up 
the  poet,  who  had  been  ill.  '  Indeed  if  you  should  go  before  me,'  he 
told  him,  '  I  should  lose  every  thing  that  is  dear  to  me,  and  the  best 
friend  I  ever  had.'  In  September,  however,  he  was  once  more  depressed 
about  himself.  '  I  wish  I  could  say  I  am  better,  or  that  my  mind  is 
agreeably  amused.  To  divert  my  mind  a  little  I  have  begun  the  first 
stage  of  man,  and  the  prison  scene ;  also  a  great  cartoon.  I  am  now 
without  a  friend  here  that  I  dare  speak  to.  They  ask  me  why  I  do  not 
finish  my  pictures  ?  etc.  I  wish  to  God  you  could  contrive  to  come 
and  stay  all  the  winter.    Forgive  me  ! ' 

Ten  days  later,  Dr.  Ainslie,  who  happened  to  call,  found  him  so 
ill  that  he  sent  for  John  Romney  from  Cambridge  to  look  after  him, 
though  the  latter  could  only  stay  for  a  short  time,  on  account  of  his 
duties.  Flaxman  was  then  on  his  way  home,  to  the  painter's  great 
delight.  'Though  he  is  not  here  in  person,'  he  wrote,  '  I  have  caught 
a  portion  of  his  soul  from  the  beautiful  images  of  his  Homer  and 
Dante.  I  am  charmed  with  them,  they  have  thrown  a  light  upon 
my  mind,  that  has  dissipated  some  of  its  thick  gloom.  Flaxman's 
taste  leans  much  to  the  old  cathedral,  simple,  and  pure.  I  long  to 
see  him  return,  and  if  he  arrives  soon  I  think  of  accompanying  him  to 
your  lovely  abode.' 

Flaxman  had  greatly  enhanced  his  reputation  during  his  sojourn  in 
Rome.    Lord  Holland,  who  met  him  there,  said  of  him  in  his  Memoirs : 1 

1  Further  Memoirs  of  the  Whig  Party,  1807-1821,  by  Henry  Richard  Vassall,  third  Lord 
Holland,  edited  by  Lord  Stavordale,  1905. 
194 


PL  A  TE  XXXIX 


THOMAS  AND  CATHERINE  CLAVERING 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  COLONEL  NAPIER  CLAVERING 

Page  joy 


PLATE  XL 


MASTER  THOMAS  WALLACE 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  MK.  J.  HOPE  WALLACE 

Page  30S 


VISIT  TO  HAMPSHIRE 


'  Flaxman,  indeed,  visited  Italy  while  I  was  there.  I  am  afraid  I  was 
more  struck  with  the  deformity  of  his  person,  the  sanctity  of  his 
primitive  manners,  and  the  visionary  turn  of  his  opinions,  than  with 
his  works  or  conversation ;  but  the  Italians  had  more  sagacity  than 
his  countrymen,  and  discerned  early  the  grand  originality  of  his  con- 
ceptions, his  just  ideas  of  beauty,  and  the  real  simplicity  of  his 
character.  His  sketches  and  models  were  studied  as  works  of 
established  excellence  even  then  at  Rome.  He  was,  in  truth,  as 
Lord  Egremont  comically  designated  him,  a  prodigy  of  deformity 
and  genius.  If  unequal,  from  bodily  infirmity,  to  complete  any  great 
chef-d'oeuvre  in  sculpture,  he  continued  to  enlighten  his  contemporaries 
and  followers :  and  did  more  by  his  example  and  his  drawings  to 
improve  art  than  any  Englishman,  Sir  Joshua,  in  the  sister  branch, 
always  excepted.' 

A  letter  that  Romney  sent  to  Hayley  on  October  18th,  upon  hearing 
the  sad  news  of  Cowper's  mental  condition,  may  be  regarded  almost  as 
prophetic.  '  If  there  is  a  blessing  in  nature  above  all  others,  it  is  when 
a  man  recovers  his  lost  reason.  And  if  there  is  a  situation  more 
deplorable  than  any  other  in  nature,  it  is  the  horrible  decline  of  reason, 
and  the  derangement  of  that  power,  we  have  been  blest  with.  How 
hard  it  is  for  a  man  with  a  feeling  mind  to  preserve  that  balance  in  his 
understanding,  that  carries  him  well  through  life !  Bless  all  those  who 
dedicate  their  time  to  the  weakness  of  the  human  mind  ! ' 

Romney  was  now  so  thoroughly  out  of  health  that  he  did  not  wait 
in  London  for  Flaxman's  return,  but  hurried  down  to  Eartham,  where, 
says  his  host,  '  our  first  object  was  to  amuse,  and  fortify  his  mind 
against  the  encroachment  of  that  insidious  malady  the  hypochondria, 
which  has  so  frequent  and  cruel  a  tendency  to  impede  the  exertions  of 
active  genius.'  For  this  purpose  Hayley  and  his  son  took  the  artist 
for  an  excursion  into  Hampshire.  They  went  to  Portsmouth,  and  on 
the  way  home  spent  some  hours  with  Dr.  Warton,  at  Wickham. 
Romney  was  cheered  by  the  praise  the  great  scholar  bestowed  on  his 
cartoons  from  scenes  taken  from  Greek  tragedy,  notably  the  design  for 
the  '  Dream  of  Atossa '  from  the  Persae  of  Aeschylus,  a  favourite 
drama  of  Warton 's.  'The  cartoon,'  he  thought,  ' was  so  powerful  in 
its  spirit  and  expression,  that  it  seemed  worthy  to  have  been  applauded 
by  Aeschylus  himself.' 

The  Eartham  visit,  however,  was  cut  short,  and  Romney  was  hastily 
recalled  to  town  owing  to  pressure  of  business.  In  November  he  wrote 

195 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 

in  the  greatest  delight  announcing  the  safe  return  of  Flaxman.  '  I  am 
still  more  charmed  with  him  than  ever ;  his  company  is  delightful. 
Indeed  I  am  quite  made  happy  by  his  return.'  Some  days  later  he 
continued — '  Flaxman  is  returned  from  the  Country,  and  has  been  very 
kind  in  getting  my  casts  from  the  Custom  house.  I  believe  I  may 
now  say  I  have  the  best  private  collection  in  London.  He  has  fixed 
on  a  house,  and  near  me,  which  is  delightful  to  my  feelings.  He  is  a 
most  accomplished  artist.'  This  was  No.  6  Buckingham  Street, 
Fitzroy  Square. 

In  the  winter  he  was  at  work  on  the  picture  of  '  Newton  Making 
Experiments  with  the  Prism,'  as  a  companion  to  '  Milton  and  his 
Daughters.'  The  face  of  the  laughing  girl  he  afterwards  altered,  in 
1799,  'when  his  powers  were  almost  extinct,'  and  by  doing  so  he 
spoiled  the  picture,  for,  after  beginning  to  make  the  change,  he  was  not 
able  to  finish  it.  Later  on  his  son  tried  to  remove  this  new  painting, 
but  only  succeeded  in  making  matters  worse.  Both  Hayley  and 
Cumberland  were  anxious  that  it  should  be  purchased  for  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  but  without  success.  The  authorities  replied  that 
they  possessed  already  Roubilliac's  statue  of  Newton,  and  that,  there- 
fore they  could  not  undertake  to  acquire  the  picture  as  well.  Romney 
painted  the  head  of  Newton  from  the  mask  which  Roubilliac  had  used. 
He  painted  a  second  portrait  from  a  mask,  that  of  Alderman  Beckford, 
a  commission  from  Mr.  Beckford,  of  Fonthill,  in  which  he  was  repre- 
sented at  full  length,  in  his  robes  as  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  when 
making  his  reply  to  the  king's  answer  to  the  petition  of  the  Corporation 
in  1770. 

Other  portraits  of  this  year  (1794)  were  a  whole  length  of  the  Duke 
of  Portland  ;  Abraham  Newland,  for  the  Bank  of  England  ;  the  Earl 
of  Euston  (Duke  of  Grafton),  for  the  Marquis  Camden,  then  Viceroy 
of  Ireland  ;  and  a  '  three-quarters '  of  his  own  son,  which  was  finished 
in  two  sittings,  the  whole  time  not  exceeding  three  hours — 'a  specimen 
of  his  bold  and  spirited  manner.' 

At  the  beginning  of  1795  young  Thomas  Hayley,  then  in  his 
fifteenth  year,  came  up  to  London  as  the  pupil  of  Flaxman,  to  whom 
he  was  bound  as  an  apprentice  on  the  1st  of  February.  He  naturally 
saw  much  of  Romney,  who  watched  over  his  artistic  training  with 
fatherly  care.  The  latter  was  then  at  work  on  a  large  picture,  which 
had  been  suggested  to  him  by  Hayley  in  the  previous  year- — the 
'  Saviour  in  the  Wilderness '  from  Paradise  Regained.  This,  how- 
196 


DESIGN   FOR  'THE  TEMPTATION' 


ever,  was  never  finished,  with  the  exception  of  the  principal  head, 
which  was  engraved  in  outline  by  A.  Raimbach,  for  Hayley's  Life. 
The  lines  on  which  the  picture  was  based  were : — 

'  Infernal  ghosts  and  hellish  furies  round 
Environed  thee;  some  howled,  some  yelled,  some  shrieked, 
Some  bent  at  thee  their  fiery  darts,  while  thou 
Sat'st  unappalled  in  calm  and  sinless  peace.' 

In  the  opinion  of  his  son,  'had  he  finished  this  picture,  it  would 
have  ranked  him  with  Michael  Angelo.  It  was  equal  in  original  con- 
ception and  wild  fancy  to  any  thing  ever  produced  by  any  artist. 
When  one  looked  at  Christ,  silent  passiveness  was  the  idea  which 
presented  itself  to  the  spectator  ;  when  at  the  fiends  that  assailed  him, 
vociferating  noise  and  boisterous  insult.  These  visionary  beings  were 
the  human  passions  and  appetites  personified.  To  aid  the  malevolent 
purpose,  the  illusive  representations,  or  ghosts  of  Eve  and  Noah,  were 
called  forth.  And  the  arch-fiend,  the  Miltonic  Satan,  grand  as  the 
human  mind  can  conceive  him,  viewed  from  the  upper  corner  of  the 
picture,  with  malignant  satisfaction,  the  ready  obedience  of  his  imps. 
The  canvass,  as  far  as  I  remember,  was  about  sixteen  feet  by  twelve  ; 
the  ground  was  a  darkish  brown,  and  the  figures  were  drawn  with 
white  chalk  complete.  It  was  all  ready  for  painting,  and  the  head  of 
Christ  was  nearly  finished,  and  that  of  Satan  begun.  From  the  dark- 
ness of  the  canvass,  I  should  suppose  that  it  was  his  intention  to  have 
given  a  sombre  hue,  and  gloomy  effect  to  the  whole  picture,  corre- 
sponding both  to  the  duskiness  of  the  twilight,  and  to  the  character  of 
its  infernal  agents  and  their  design.  .  .  .  The  Temptation,  being  of 
inconvenient  size,  had  been  rolled  up ;  and  in  that  state  was  sent  to 
Christie's  auction  room  along  with  Mr.  Romney's  other  pictures  ;  not 
with  any  intention  of  exposing  it  for  sale,  but  merely  that  it  might  be 
seen  by  the  public  ;  unfortunately  there  was  no  space  for  it,  and  it  was 
never  unrolled.'  John  Romney  lost  all  trace  of  it  after  the  etching  of 
the  head  of  Christ  had  been  made  from  it  for  Hayley's  book. 

Hayley,  with  an  exaggeration  due  to  paternal  pride  in  his  '  lively 
boy,'  declares  that  Romney  '  thought  so  highly  of  his  pure  and  intelli- 
gent mind,  that  he  frequently  consulted  him,  and  particularly  on 
occasions  relating  to  art.  This  young  counsellor  who  thought  glory 
infinitely  preferable  to  gold,  exhorted  Romney  continually  to  relieve 
himself  from  the  drudgery,  of  which  he  was  very  apt  to  complain,  by 
bidding  adieu  to  portraits,  and  devoting  all  his  time  to  historical  com- 
position ;  advice  the  more  seasonable,  as  the  painter  seemed  in  this 

197 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


year  to  have  been  almost  overwhelmed  by  the  multitude  of  his 
sitters.' 

The  following  extracts  from  letters  written  by  young  Tom  to  his 
father  during  the  month  of  March  in  this  year,  show  what  a  constant 
visitor  he  was  to  Romney's  studio,  and  how  kind  the  elder  artist  was 
to  him  : — '  I  fear  he  will  never  leave  off  portraits,  for  he  has  constantly 
new  sitters.  When  I  go,  there  is  Lord  this,  or  Lady  that,  sitting, 
whereby  I  cannot  catch  sight  of  him.' 

'  Mrs  Flaxman  is  very  good  to  me,  and  so  is  the  immortal  painter ; 
he  desires  that  I  would  choose  any  of  his  casts  to  model  from,  that  I 
please.  He  intends  to  take  lodgings  in  Hampstead,  to  recruit  his 
strength  a  little,  for  portrait-painting  knocks  him  up.  He  has  begun 
his  head  of  our  Saviour  in  the  wilderness ;  it  is  very  much  the  thing,  I 
think ;  I  am  quite  in  his  confidence.'1 

*  (March  21th).  Drank  tea  at  Mr.  Romney's,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Flaxman,  Mr.  French  and  Miss  Nicholas.' 

4 1  am  indeed  in  great  favour  with  the  Caro  Pittore,  whom,  from  his 
legion  of  blue  devils,  we  call  the  magnanimous  Admiral  of  the 
Blues.  He  is  to  give  me  a  little  figure  that  he  painted  of  you  in  the 
character  of  Jacques,  lying  down  and  leaning  on  his  elbow.' 

Romney  was,  indeed,  most  anxious  to  abandon  portrait  painting, 
but  had  not  the  strength  of  mind  to  do  so.  On  June  17th  he  informed 
Hayley — '  I  am  going  to  decline  business,  to  wind  up  my  bottom  and 
then  build  me  a  house,  which  I  hope  will  inspire  me  with  new  vigour, 
and  I  pray  God,  I  may  recover  my  spirits  to  go  on  anew.  I  have  still 
the  same  passion  for  art,  and  begin  to  feel  at  times  a  regeneration  in 
my  mind,  that  approaches  to  something  more  refined.  Our  dear  little 
sculptor  has  made  an  excellent  copy.  He  surprises  me  more  and  more. 
I  do  not  know  I  ever  saw  such  rapid  progress  before  in  any  art.' 

On  the  30th  of  the  same  month,  he  continued  in  the  same  strain — 
'  I  am  still  unsettled  where  and  when  I  shall  fix  my  first  stone,  and 
make  my  gravel  walks,  and  plant  my  cedars ;  but  to  build  my  house 
and  plant  my  cedars,  I  am  determined.  God  light  up  the  imaginations 
of  lawyers ! ' 

On  the  3rd  of  September  he  tells  the  same  correspondent  how 
flattered  he  feels  to  hear  of  Flaxman's  approval  of  his  portrait  group 
of  the  Bosanquet  family.  This  picture,  representing  a  lady  and  five 
children,  is  one  of  the  most  important  canvases  he  attempted  towards 

1  Hayley's  Memoirs  of  his  Son,  p.  124.    The  same  letter,  with  slight  variations,  is  printed  in 
the  Life,  p.  231. 
198 


THE  'BOSANQUET  FAMILY' 

the  end  of  his  career,  or,  indeed,  at  any  period  of  his  life.  He  never 
gave  it  the  last  finishing  touches,  but  there  was  so  little  left  to  be  done 
to  it  that  the  fine  effect  it  produces  is  in  no  way  marred.  The  lady, 
Mrs.  William  Bosanquet,  is  seated  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  canvas, 
in  a  red  arm-chair  placed  out  of  doors  in  front  of  a  stone  pillar  or 
portico.  She  holds  a  sleeping  baby  on  her  lap,  with  the  fore-finger  of 
her  left  hand  placed  against  her  mouth  as  a  warning  to  the  other 
members  of  the  group  not  to  wake  the  child.  She  wears  a  dress  of 
alternate  stripes  of  olive  green  and  dark  green  or  black,  and  her  brown 
hair,  which  curls  upon  her  shoulders,  is  tied  with  a  white  ribbon.  She 
has  a  strong,  handsome,  and  intelligent  face.  All  the  children  have 
yellow  curls  and  rosy  cheeks.  The  youngest  boy,  in  a  white  frock  and 
brown  sash,  stands  next  to  his  mother,  with  his  right  hand  holding  the 
end  of  a  string  of  coral  beads  fastened  round  the  baby's  waist,  and  the 
left  hand  stretched  back  to  take  a  pear  from  his  eldest  sister,  who  stands 
in  the  middle  of  the  group,  also  in  white,  with  olive-green  sash,  and  is 
holding  up  her  skirt  with  both  hands  to  catch  the  fruit  which  one  of 
the  boys  is  shaking  from  a  tree.  On  the  other  side  of  her,  a  second 
brother  reaches  up  towards  a  pear  on  a  branch  on  the  extreme  right, 
which  the  eldest  boy  is  bending  down  to  him.  He  also  is  dressed  in 
white,  with  a  dark  sash  ;  and  long  curls  fall  almost  to  his  waist.  He 
has  a  very  winsome  face,  and  looks  over  his  left  shoulder  at  the  spec- 
tator. The  eldest  lad,  who  wears  a  tight-fitting  suit  of  Indian  red  with 
a  white  collar,  has  climbed  some  little  way  up  the  tree,  and  supports 
himself  with  a  knee  resting  on  a  branch  and  his  left  arm  round  the 
trunk.  He  is  looking  down  towards  his  baby  sister  on  his  mother  s 
lap.  The  background,  consisting  of  foliage,  cloudy  sky,  and  an  in- 
dication of  blue  hills  in  the  distance,  is  unfinished.  One  or  two  of  the 
heads  also  want  the  finishing  touches  put  to  them,  but  all  have  great 
natural  sweetness  and  a  winning  beauty  of  expression.    (See  Plate  xxi.) 

This  picture,  although  it  cannot  be  compared  with  the  great  one 
of  the  little  StafFords  dancing  in  a  ring,  painted  nearly  twenty  years 
before  it,  is  one  of  the  best  composed  of  all  Romney's  groups,  and  is 
certainly  the  most  important  canvas  he  undertook  during  the  last 
decade  of  his  life.  Both  in  general  arrangement  and  in  the  movement 
of  each  of  the  figures  the  result  obtained  is  very  natural  and  unaffected, 
and  one  can  see  that  the  painter  was  in  close  sympathy  with  his  sub- 
ject. The  figure  of  the  mother  is  admirable,  and  the  sleeping  baby  is 
one  of  his  prettiest  renderings  of  childhood.  The  draperies  are  flat  and 
simple,  with  a  few  plain  folds,  and  have  none  of  the  elaboration  which 

199 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


distinguishes  those  in  the  Stafford  pictures,  which  were  painted  under 
the  fresh  influence  of  his  two  years'  study  of  classical  models.  The 
Bosanquet  group  is  much  less  '  Greek,'  but  it  is  a  very  fresh  and  very 
delightful  rendering  of  a  happy  English  family. 

The  lady  in  the  picture,  Charlotte  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Ives, 
of  Norwich,  married  William  Bosanquet  in  December  1787.  His 
grandfather,  David  Bosanquet,  came  to  England  at  the  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes.  Various  members  of  his  family  had  much  to  do 
with  the  East  India  Company.  His  elder  brother,  Jacob,  of  Broxbourne 
Bury,  Herts,  was  one  of  its  directors  for  forty-five  years.  There  is  a 
monument  to  his  father  in  the  Abbey  Church  of  Bath.  William 
Bosanquet  himself  was  a  member  of  the  banking  house  of  Forster, 
Lubbock  and  Co.  He  died  at  his  house,  No.  5  Upper  Harley  Street, 
on  June  21st,  1800,  in  his  forty-third  year,  and  left  twelve  children. 
His  wife  died  in  1806. 

The  three  boys  in  the  picture  were  William  George  Ives,  born  in 
1789,  Augustus  Henry,  and  John  Ives,  who  all  entered  the  service  of 
the  Honourable  East  India  Company.  The  tall  girl,  born  1790,  was 
named  after  her  mother,  Charlotte  Elizabeth  Ives.  The  baby  was 
Sophia,  who  married  her  cousin,  John  William  Commerell,  and 
became  the  mother  of  Sir  Edmund  Commerell,  V.C.,  A.D.C.,  K.C.B., 
Admiral  of  the  Fleet,  1892.  Had  Mr.  Bosanquet  lived,  he  would 
have  sat  for  his  portrait  with  the  remainder  of  his  children,  of  whom 
the  youngest  were  twins,  born  in  1799.  Mrs.  Bosanquet  was  a  very 
beautiful  woman,  and  her  portrait  was  painted  more  than  once,  among 
others  by  Sir  William  Beechey. 

While  speaking  of  this  fine  family  group,  which  is  in  the  possession 
of  Major  Bosanquet,  of  the  Sherwood  Foresters,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  in  April,  1798,  Mr.  William  Bosanquet,  and  his  friends 
Mr.  Pole  and  Mr.  Mellish,  when  returning  from  hunting  with  His 
Majesty's  Staghounds,  were  attacked  by  foot-pads  on  Hounslow 
Heath,  when  the  last-named  was  so  severely  wounded  in  the  fore- 
head that  he  died  shortly  afterwards. 

Romney,  in  the  letter  just  quoted,  says  of  this  picture,  '  I  think  it 
has  unity,  and  sentiment.  I  certainly  should  be  happy  to  execute 
the  picture  you  mention  of  Lord  Egremont's  family.  Perhaps  it 
would  be  my  last.  But  farther  I  cannot  say  yet.  I  am  glad  to  hear 
the  young  Phidias  is  returning.  I  have  higher  hopes  of  him,  than  I 
ever  had  of  any  young  man  of  his  age,  in  talents,  vigorous  industry, 
and  serenity  of  temper.' 
200 


'EGREMONT  FAMILY  PIECE' 


Five  days  later  he  sent  word  that  he  would  be  hastening  to 
Eartham  in  a  few  days  with  his  friend  Carwardine,  bringing  canvas 
and  colours  with  which  to  begin  the  picture  for  which  he  had  received 
a  definite  commission  from  Lord  Egremont,  who  also  made  arrange- 
ments for  him  to  execute  it  in  the  painting-room  at  Eartham.  For 
this  purpose  the  artist  went  down  in  September,  taking  with  him 
young  Hayley  for  a  holiday,  and  during  the  visit  the  boy  executed  a 
medallion  portrait  of  the  painter.  He  also  did  one  of  his  father,  for 
which  Romney  gave  him  five  guineas.  A  new  inmate  of  the  house 
was  young  George  Wyndham,  Lord  Egremont's  son,  who  was  then 
under  Hayley 's  care. 

Romney  returned  to  London  early  in  October,  but  was  back 
again  in  Sussex  in  November,  in  order  to  get  on  with  the  big  picture. 
The  illness  of  one  of  his  small  sitters  obliged  him  to  abandon  his 
plan  of  painting  it  in  the  Eartham  studio,  and  the  walk  of  ten  miles 
over  the  hills  each  day  to  Petworth  and  back  again  which  this  change 
of  plans  obliged,  was  advantageous  both  to  his  health  and  to  the 
progress  of  the  work. 

This  large  group  contained  the  portraits  of  four  of  the  six  natural 
children  of  George  O'Brien  Wyndham,  third  Earl  of  Egremont, 
their  mother  being  the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Iliff,  one  of  the 
masters  of  Westminster  School.  The  Earl  was  never  married,  though 
more  than  one  attempt  was  made  to  induce  him  to  enter  that  state. 
In  1774  a  match  was  arranged  between  him  and  Lady  Mary  Somerset, 
which  came  to  nothing,  and  six  years  later  his  forthcoming  marriage 
was  announced  with  Lady  Charlotte  Maria  Waldegrave,  grand-niece 
of  Horace  Walpole.  This,  too,  was  soon  broken  off,  and  he  seems 
to  have  treated  the  lady,  who  afterwards  married  the  Duke  of  Grafton, 
very  shabbily.  Walpole  was  furious,  calling  him  '  a  worthless  young 
fellow,'  and  never  mentioning  him  in  his  published  correspondence 
without  abuse.  Mrs.  Delany  had  a  better  opinion  of  him  :  '  He  is  a 
pretty  man,  has  a  vast  fortune,  and  is  very  generous ;  and  not  addicted 
to  the  vices  of  the  times.' 

In  the  picture,  which  is  still  at  Petworth,  the  mother,  in  a  dark 
dress,  is  represented  reclining  in  a  landscape,  on  the  left,  looking  over 
her  shoulder,  with  her  back  to  the  spectator,  and  clasping  the  youngest 
child,  a  mere  infant,  in  her  arms.  On  the  extreme  right  a  boy  of  ten 
or  eleven  in  red  is  shooting  at  a  bat  with  a  bow  and  arrow,  while  in 
the  centre  a  girl  of  about  the  same  age,  in  white,  kneels  with  her  arms 
round  a  younger  boy,  who  also  holds  a  bow.    The  lad  on  the  right 

201 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


was  the  eldest  son,  George  Wyndham,  born  in  1787,  who  attained 
to  the  rank  of  a  colonel  in  the  army  and  succeeded  to  all  his 
father's  possessions  with  the  exception  of  the  title.  He  was  created 
the  first  Baron  Leconfield  in  1859.  The  boy  in  the  centre  was  the 
next  brother,  Sir  Henry  Wyndham,  K.C.B.,  M.P.,  a  general  in  the 
army,  born  1790,  who  fought  in  the  Peninsula  and  at  Waterloo. 
There  is  a  monument  to  him  in  Petworth  Church.  The  girl  is  the 
eldest  sister,  Frances,  who  married  Sir  Charles  Merrick  Burrell  in 
1808.  The  Petworth  catalogue  states  that  the  youngest  child  repre- 
sented is  Charlotte,  afterwards  Mrs.  John  James  King,  of  Loxwood, 
who,  according  to  Burke,  was  the  third  daughter.  If  Burke  is 
correct,  it  seems  more  likely  to  be  a  portrait  of  the  second  daughter, 
Mary,  who  married,  in  1819,  Colonel  George  Fitzclarence,  first  Earl 
of  Munster,  illegitimate  son  of  William  iv.  There  was  a  third 
son,  Charles  Wyndham,  of  Rogate,  Hants,  a  colonel  in  the  army, 
and  a  member  of  Parliament.  Another  child,  to  whom  Hayley  had 
stood  as  godfather,  died  the  year  before  the  picture  was  begun,  and 
the  disconsolate  parents  spent  some  days  at  Eartham  while  recovering 
from  the  shock. 

The  Earl  of  Egremont  made  Petworth  House  a  museum  of  art 
and  a  college  of  agriculture.  Arthur  Young  was  a  frequent  visitor. 
The  noble  owner  was  a  vice-president  of  the  British  Institution,  and 
one  of  the  most  cultivated  amateurs  of  his  day.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  to  appreciate  Turner,  who  was  frequently  at  Petworth,  where  he 
had  his  own  special  studio.  C.  R.  Leslie,  with  his  wife  and  children, 
spent  some  weeks  there  annually  for  a  number  of  years,  and  Constable 
was  a  visitor  in  1834.  Lord  Egremont  was  a  good  friend  to  Haydon, 
and  gave  commissions  to  Flaxman  and  other  sculptors,  and  was  indeed, 
a  liberal  patron  of  the  arts.  At  his  death,  in  1837,  he  was  succeeded 
by  his  nephew,  George  Francis  Wyndham,  who  died  without  heirs  in 
1845,  when  the  title  became  extinct,  and  Petworth  passed  into  the 
possession  of  the  shooting  boy  of  the  picture. 

This  important  group,  which  John  Romney  considered  to  be 
one  of  his  father's  best  performances,  he  calls  '  A  Lady  in  the  character 
of  Titania,  with  her  children  as  fairies,  shooting  at  bats,  with  bows 
and  arrows.'  Here,  however,  he  is  mistaken.  The  first  idea  may 
perhaps  have  been  to  dress  them  in  some  such  fanciful  guise,  but 
it  was  abandoned.  They  are  represented  in  the  costume  of  their 
own  day  both  in  the  picture,  which  is  still  at  Petworth,  and  in 
the  large  finished  study  for  it,  now  belonging  to  Mrs.  BischofFs- 
202 


STUDY  FOR  THE  EGREMONT  GROUP 


heim.1  The  picture  is  a  pleasing  one,  and  has  some  beautiful  pass- 
ages of  colour,  notably  in  the  golden  glow  of  sunset  in  the  land- 
scape background,  but  it  can  be  in  no  way  compared  with  such  a 
masterpiece  as  the  '  Dancing  Children.'  The  composition  is  not 
nearly  so  effective,  and  the  pose  of  the  mother  is  awkward,  though 
the  centre  group  of  the  boy  and  girl  is  natural  and  good.  It  is  an 
ambitious  canvas,  but  the  workmanship  shows  signs  of  the  painter's 
declining  powers. 

The  large  study,  50  in.  x  68  in.,  is  not  identical  with  the  picture. 
The  lady  is  prettier,  the  attitude  of  her  head  is  different,  and  her 
position  more  recumbent.  The  name  '  Dudman,  Junr.'  is  written  on 
the  back  of  the  canvas,  and  it  seems  most  probable  that  it  was  left 
unfinished  by  Romney  and  completed  by  Dudman,  a  painter  of  no 
particular  note,  probably  the  R.  Dudman,  of  41  Strand,  who 
exhibited  a  portrait  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1797.  It  is 
accepted  both  by  Sir  Walter  Armstrong  and  Mr.  Claude  Phillips 
as  a  genuine  work  by  Romney,  showing  his  characteristics  both  in 
their  strength  and  weakness,  but  finished  in  certain  of  the  details, 
such  as  the  drapery  of  the  child  in  white,  by  Dudman.  It  was 
reproduced  in  The  Burlington  Magazine  for  August,  1905,  and  a 
note  upon  it  was  contributed  by  Sir  Walter  Armstrong  in  the 
following  month. 

This  study  was  in  the  possession  of  the  Sockett  family  until 
February  1905,  in  which  year  it  was  included  in  a  sale  at  Messrs. 
Christie's  as  a  work  by  '  W.  Dudman,  1798,  after  G.  Romney,'  and 
was  bought  by  Mrs.  Bischoffsheim.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Sockett,2 
when  a  young  man,  lived  with  Hayley  for  a  year  or  two,  at 
the  time  of  the  painting  of  the  Egremont  group,  and  helped  him 
in  the  education  of  young  George  Wyndham,  and  in  other  ways. 
He  afterwards  went  to  Petworth  as  tutor  to  the  children,  and 
later  on  entered  the  church,  received  the  Petworth  living,  and  died 
in  1859.  There  is  a  letter  from  Romney  to  Lord  Egremont,  preserved 
among  the  Petworth  papers,  asking  him  to  give  the  sketch  to  Sockett, 
whose  portrait  by  Thomas  Phillips,  R.A.,  is  still  at  Petworth. 

There  are  several  other  works  by  Romney  in  Petworth  House 
which  may  be  mentioned  here.  Among  them  is  a  version  of  '  The 
Infant  Shakespeare  nursed  by  Tragedy  and  Comedy,'  which  is  repro- 
duced in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower's  book.    It  is  not  in  very 


1  Romuey  certainly  refers  to  the  children  in  one  of  his  letters  as  '  My  elves  and  fairies,' 
which  seems  to  support  his  son's  contention.  2  See  page  174. 

203 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


good  condition,  and  is  hung  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  see  it,  but  it  is 
a  work  of  real  beauty,  though  not  so  fine  as  Mr.  Tankerville 
Chamberlayne's  picture,  which  is  illustrated  here.1  Mr.  Lawrence 
Romney  thinks  that  there  is  a  third  version  of  this  subject  in 
existence. 

Another  picture  is  wrongly  described  in  the  Petworth  catalogue 
as  '  Mirth  and  Melancholy  (Lady  Hamilton  and  Mrs.  Smith).'  Miss 
Wallis,  the  actress,  sat  for  both  figures.2  It  was  in  the  possession  of 
John  Romney,  and  was  purchased  at  his  sale  in  1834  by  Lord 
Egremont  for  88  guineas. 

The  remaining  Romney  canvas  is  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Bacchante," 
also  reproduced  by  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower.  This  picture  is 
a  replica  of  the  lovely  rendering  of  the  fair  Emma  in  Mr.  Tankerville 
Chamberlayne's  collection,  of  which  a  reproduction  appears  in  this 
book,  though  it  by  no  means  approaches  it  in  beauty.3  It  is  doubtful 
if  Romney  did  much  of  it  himself,  and  it  is,  perhaps,  mainly  the  work 
of  one  of  his  pupils. 

While  at  Eartham  this  autumn  the  painter  also  began  two  pictures, 
'  to  indulge  the  feelings  of  friendship.'  One  was  a  group  which 
included  the  poet  himself,  seated  at  a  table  with  Cicero's  Essay  on 
Friendship,  his  son,  Thomas  Hayley,  and  the  latter 's  companion, 
William  Meyer,  a  son  of  the  miniature  painter,  standing  by  his  side, 
the  one  with  a  small  statue  of  Minerva  in  his  hand,  the  other  in  his 
Trinity  College  gown.  A  head  of  Romney,  hastily  painted,  was 
also  introduced.  Hayley,  however,  is  wrong  about  the  date  of  this 
picture,  which  was  not  begun  until  1796.  The  second  and  larger 
picture  represented  '  Flaxman  modelling  the  bust  of  Hayley,'  attended 
by  his  pupil  Thomas  Hayley,  with  Romney  looking  on  from  behind, 
all  at  full  length.  This  group  was  never  finished,  and  Hayley  and 
John  Romney  seem  to  have  been  on  the  verge  of  a  quarrel  over  its 
possession  shortly  after  the  artist's  death.  According  to  Romney 's 
son  it  was  claimed  by  Hayley, '  in  consequence  of  some  vague  expression 
inadvertently  uttered  by  Mr.  Romney,  about  the  time  he  was  sitting.' 
It  was,  therefore,  given  to  him  for  his  life,  on  the  understanding  that 
it  afterwards  went  to  Mr.  Greene,  the  solicitor.  On  the  other  hand, 
Hayley  says  that  Romney  wished  him  to  have  it  until  his  death, 
when  it  was  to  go  to  Flaxman,  and  then  at  the  latter's  death  to 
descend  to  Tom  Hayley.  In  the  end,  as  the  artist  desired,  it  went 
on  Hayley 's  death  to  Mr.  Greene,  at  that  time  M.P.  for  Lancaster. 

1  See  Plate  xvii.  2  See  page  155.  3  See  Plate  ix. 

204 


PLA  TE  XL1 


MISS  ELIZABETH  WALLACE 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  MR.  J.   HOI'E  WALLACE 

Page  308 


PLATE  XI,  11 


THE  DUCHESS  OF  GORDON  AND  HER  SON 

•IN  THE  COLLECTION   OF  MR.   CHARLES  J.  WEKTHEIMER 

Pages  joq-io 


PORTRAIT  OF  HIMSELF 


It  is  still  in  the  possession  of  his  descendant,  Mr.  Dawson-Greene, 
of  Whittington  Hall,  and  is  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland 
Gower's  book.  A  smaller  version,  not  full-length,  is  in  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery.  It  was  presented  in  1860  by  Mr.  Henry  Crabb  Robin- 
son, and  is  possibly  only  a  good  contemporary  copy.    (See  Plate  xxn.) 

In  the  winter  of  1795  he  painted  a  head  of  himself,  which,  'though 
slight,  and  not  entirely  finished,  being  painted  at  once,  shews  uncom- 
mon power  of  execution ;  the  likeness  also,  is  strong,  but  there  is  a 
certain  expression  of  languor  that  indicates  the  approach  of  disease, 
which  had  in  fact  already  begun  to  assail  his  constitution,'  as  the  filial 
comment  upon  it  runs.1  He  represented  himself  without  spectacles, 
though  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  using  glasses  for  many  years. 
The  pair  with  which  he  worked  contained  two  half-glasses  for  each 
eye,  separated  horizontally :  the  lower  half  for  viewing  objects  close 
at  hand,  through  which  he  always  painted  ;  the  upper  for  things  at  a 
greater  distance,  through  which  he  judged  the  effect  of  his  painting. 
John  Romney  also  mentions  a  three-quarter  length  of  Isaac  Reed, 
the  editor  of  Shakespeare,  as  done  about  this  time,  and  given  to  the 
sitter,  who  in  return  sent  Romney  a  copy  of  his  edition  of  the  poet's 
works,  on  November  7th,  1796. 

In  a  letter  dated  January  19th,  1796,  Romney  gave  Hay  ley  an 
account  of  '  the  extraordinary  talents  Tom  has  discovered  in  a  design 
he  has  made  from  the  New  Testament,  of  the  two  Angels  and  Mary 
at  the  tomb  of  Christ.  I  speak  with  a  degree  of  amazement.  It  is 
simple,  grand,  and  beautiful,  better  conceived,  and  with  more  good 
sense,  than  any  design  of  the  same  subject  I  have  ever  seen.  I  give 
you  joy  of  this  first  and  bright  example  of  his  invention.' 

Tom  at  the  time  was  working  in  Romney 's  studio  at  a  copy  of  an 
antique  head  of  Minerva,  and  also  sitting  to  the  painter,  '  who  has 
almost  finished  my  figure  in  the  grand  picture.  He  has  also  advanced 
Mr.  Flaxman's  head,  but  left  his  own  untouched.'  Romney  was  very 
enthusiastic  over  Tom's  design  of  the  Angels  at  the  Tomb,  and  told 
several  friends  about  it,  among  them  Lord  Egremont,  who  honoured 
the  young  sculptor  by  a  visit  on  purpose  to  see  it. 

On  February  20th  he  reported  that  his  gallery  had  been  much 
frequented,  among  his  visitors  being  Charles  James  Fox,  and  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  the  latter  promising  to  sit  to  him.  Soon  after  this 
he  had  a  short  but  severe  illness,  but  could  not  be  persuaded  to  go  to 
Sussex  to  recuperate.    On  March  15th  he  wrote :  '  Your  kind  letter 

1  John  Romney,  p.  239. 

205 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


was  a  cordial  to  my  feelings.  You  know  what  nerves  are,  after 
severe  illness  ;  but  I  hope  to  re-establish  my  health  without  indulging 
in  your  invitation.  I  feel  like  one  escaped  from  an  enchantment, 
where  some  fiend  presided.  The  tyranny  of  the  disease  was  terrible 
for  four  days ;  my  throat  burst  and  the  enchantment  vanished. 
Carwardine  was,  and  still  is  in  town,  which  was  fortunate  for  me  ; 
his  cordiality  made  time  pass  more  comfortably  to  my  spirits ;  I  now 
feel  recovered  and  can  work.' 

Tom  wrote  to  his  father  at  about  the  same  date,  saying  that  '  Our 
friend  Romney  is  now  perfectly  recovered,  and  drawing  a  plan  for  his 
house,  to  be  built  immediately.' 

Some  little  time  later  in  the  spring,  he  was  plunged  once  more  into 
the  depths  of  melancholy.  '  My  spirits  have  been  so  very  indifferent, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  write ;  and  now  I  can  only  say  a  word  or  two, 
and  that  is,  I  long  to  hear  from  you.  Perhaps  when  the  days  grow 
longer,  and  I  can  sleep  at  Hampstead,  I  may  get  better,  but  alas !  my 
prospect  of  future  life,  grows  dreary.  I  can  say  no  more  at  present^ 
but  I  hope  your  spirits  are  good  and  you  may  defy  every  other 
calamity.    My  affections  hover  round  you,  God  bless  you.' 

'  The  friends  of  Romney,'  says  Hayley,  '  did  not  think  his  suffer- 
ings the  less  entitled  to  their  attention  and  pity,  because  they  knew 
them  to  be  merely  imaginary  ;  on  the  contrary  several  of  his  associates 
were  ever  eager  to  employ  both  reason  and  raillery,  in  freeing  him  from 
those  oppressive  phantoms,  which  his  powerful  imagination  under 
these  transient  clouds  was  apt  to  produce.'  He  then  relates  an  anec- 
dote of  a  visit  to  Kew  to  see  some  pictures  by  Salvator  Rosa  and 
Correggio,  on  which  occasion  Romney,  although  he  declared  himself 
to  be  half  dead  when  his  friends  went  to  fetch  him,  was  afterwards 
obliged  to  own  that  he  had  never  passed  a  more  delightful  day  in  his 
life.  '  So  easy  is  it,'  moralises  the  Bard,  '  for  seasonable  kindness  to 
triumph  over  the  formidable  legion  of  blue-devils.' 

In  July  Lord  Egremont  was  anxious  that  Romney  should  stay  at 
Petworth  in  order  to  finish  the  big  picture.  He  appears  to  have 
promised  to  go,  but  failed  to  do  so.  Hayley,  in  a  letter  to  Tom, 
mentions  as  an  inducement  that  '  my  Lord  has  offered,  in  the  kindest 
and  most  engaging  manner,  to  make  a  warm  sea-water  bath  for  him  in 
the  friendly  palace,'  and  hopes  that  '  he  will  try  a  remedy  that  his 
imagination  has  long  panted  for;  and  which  may,  indeed,  produce  a 
very  beneficial  effect  on  his  marvellous  frame.' 

Writing  early  in  August,  Romney  declares  that  the  trip  to  Kew 
206 


VISIT  TO  CAMBRIDGE 


was  the  first  step  to  his  recovery.  '  The  journey  to  Cambridge  after 
wards  with  our  friend  Carwardine,  contributed  to  what  you  begun. 
The  shaking  of  the  coach,  the  scenery,  the  variety  of  company  and 
kindness  from  all  contributed  to  bring  me  to  a  working  mood.  I  have 
now  finished  the  Petworth  picture,  so  that  it  may  be  removed,  and  I 
have  also  painted  a  lovely  daughter  of  Lady  Townshend.  ...  I  have 
been  able  to  work  hard  for  the  last  fortnight,  and  shall  be  still  at  work, 
till  Mr.  Bunce,  the  Architect,  has  agreed  with  me  on  my  proposed 
building.' 

'  Our  journey  to  Cambridge  was  undertaken,'  Carwardine  reported 
to  Hay  ley,  '  more  for  the  change  of  air,  and  the  recovery  of  our  friend, 
after  a  severe  fit  of  illness,  than  from  any  hope  of  seeing  good  pictures, 
since  our  universities  are  rather  repositories  for  literature,  than  for 
painting.  However  I  recollect,  that  when  we  dined  with  Doctor 
Craven,  master  of  Saint  John's,  we  found  in  his  rooms,  a  portrait  of 
Fisher,  bishop  of  Rochester,  and  almoner  to  the  Lady  Margaret 
Countess  of  Richmond,  and  mother  of  King  Henry  the  Seventh.  She, 
you  know,  was  the  foundress  of  the  college,  and  engaged  the  bishop  to 
superintend  the  progress  of  the  building.  The  portrait  was  painted 
by  Holbein,  and  to  give  you  the  opinion  of  Romney,  it  is  one  of  the 
very  finest  portraits  ever  painted  by  Holbein,  or  indeed  by  any 
painter.  It  is  impossible  to  look  at  it  long  without  forgetting  that  it 
is  a  picture,  and  viewing  it  as  a  living  and  venerable  old  man  in  the 
attitude  of  speaking  to  you.  It  is  a  half-length,  and  the  painter's 
initials  are  visible  on  a  cornelian,  which  decorates  the  finger  of  the 
good  old  Bishop.  You  have  now  all  I  can  recollect  of  our  Cambridge 
excursion.' 

During  the  summer  both  the  health  and  spirits  of  the  painter 
greatly  improved.  He  spent  a  longer  time  than  usual  in  Sussex,  and 
the  change  of  air  helped  in  his  recovery.  Though  an  indifferent 
horseman,  he  was  induced  to  take  riding  exercise  as  well  as  sea-bathing. 
He  also  found  much  amusement  over  the  plans  of  his  projected 
building.  '  He  had  recently  purchased  an  old  house  in  Hampstead, 
with  a  spacious  stable  on  elevated  ground  behind  it;  and  there  he 
intended  to  form  a  villa,  with  every  accommodation  for  the  exercise  of 
his  art.'1  Hayley,  too,  was  thinking  of  building  a  small  house  at 
Felpham,  so  that  the  two  were  very  busy  together;  nor  was  he 
altogether  idle  with  his  brush.    He  wrote  to  his  son,  on  November 

1  Hayley,  p.  249. 

207 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


10th,  that  he  had  found  that  the  change  was  doing  him  so  much  good 
that  he  had  remained  longer  than  usual,  '  and,  to  continue  and  extend 
the  time,  and  to  amuse  Mr.  Hayley,  I  began  a  picture  of  four  friends 
— Hayley,  Tom,  young  Meyer,  and  myself — and  completed  it,  which 
is  thought  one  of  my  best.1  The  picture  for  Petworth  I  finished  at 
Hayley's  ;  it  was  very  much  liked.  I  met  with  particular  kindness 
from  my  Lord  of  Petworth.' 

He  seems  indeed,  to  have  worked  with  something  like  his  old 
enthusiasm  and  vigour  during  this  visit.  Hayley  makes  frequent 
mention  of  his  good  spirits  in  his  letters  to  Tom,  who  was  left  behind 
in  London. 

'  I  have  cheerful  and  charming  news  to  send  to  our  dear  little 
sculptor,  concerning  the  Caro  Pittore.  Instead  of  his  being  in  a 
tremulous  and  troubled  state  of  nervous  indisposition,  not  knowing 
what  to  do,  we  have  so  happily  improved  his  health  and  spirits  that  he 
has  been  exerting  his  admirable  talents  with  new  vigour  and  felicity. 
.  .  .  It  is  a  picture  sacred  to  friendship,  and  I  think  you  will  be 
highly  pleased,  when  I  inform  you  that  it  will  contain  four  portraits ; 
the  paternal  Hermit  and  the  friendly  Painter  himself,  seeming  (with 
Tully  de  Amicitia  before  them)  to  recommend  friendship,  as  the 
medicine  of  life,  to  two  ingenuous  youths,  commonly  called  Thomas 
Hayley  and  William  Meyer.  The  head  of  our  friend  William  is  very 
happily  painted  already.  Yours  is  just  sketched  from  the  little 
picture  by  Howard,  but  you  are  to  be  finished,  con  amove,  from  life ; 
and  the  beloved  artist  is  so  kindly  eager  to  make  this  favourite  pro- 
duction a  masterpiece  of  art,  that  we  were  almost  ready  to  entreat 
Flaxman  to  despatch  you  to  us  for  the  purpose  directly ;  but  the 
Caro  Pittore  is  now  inclined  to  take  a  trip  to  his  new  works  at 
Hampstead,  with  our  little  Palladio,  and  return  hither  again  before 
the  time  proposed  for  your  excursion.' 

The  'little  Palladio,'  who  was  the  architect  of  Romney's  Hamp- 
stead house,  though  the  painter  seems  to  have  had  an  unusually  large 
share  in  its  planning,  and  who  designed  Hayley's  marine  villa  at 
Felpham,  was  S.  Bunce,  a  pupil  of  James  Wyatt,  R.A.  He  exhibited 
designs  for  various  ambitious  buildings,  such  as  a  Theatre,  a 
Mausoleum,  an  Arsenal,  a  Bath,  and  a  Casino  at  the  Royal  Academy 

1  This  picture,  which  was  engraved  by  Caroline  Watson  as  a  frontispiece  to  the  second  volume 
of  Hayley's  own  Memoirs,  with  the  head  of  Romney  omitted,  was  bequeathed  by  Hayley  to  Captain 
Godfrey,  whose  grandson  sold  it  at  Christie's  on  May  12th,  1888,  when  it  was  purchased  by  Mr. 
Shepherd  for  ,£84.    It  is  49  inches  by  39  inches. 

208 


BUNCE,  ROMNEY'S  ARCHITECT 


between  1786  and  1788,  when  his  address  was  'At  Mr.  Wyatt's, 
Queen  Anne  Street,  East.'  From  that  date  until  1791  there  were  no 
contributions  from  him  to  the  annual  exhibitions,  and  during  the 
greater  part  of  that  time  he  was  studying  in  Rome,  where  he  became 
very  intimate  with  Flaxman.  The  latter,  writing  to  Romney,  on 
April  15th,  1790,  to  tell  him  of  the  new  plans  which  will  delay  his 
return  to  England  for  nearly  three  years,  through  the  generous 
commissions  given  him  by  Lord  Bristol,  says :  '  I  take  the  advantage 
of  Mr.  Bunce's  return  to  England,  to  repeat  my  thanks  to  you  for  the 
many  singular  instances  of  friendship  I  have  received  from  your 
kindness  ;  and  I  hope  you  will  believe  whatever  distance  of  time  or 
place  may  separate  us,  they  can  never  diminish  my  high  respect  for 
your  character,  and  gratitude  for  your  good  offices ;  and  believe  me 
I  am  equally  solicitous  for  your  happiness  in  all  particulars  as  if  I  was 
present  to  be  a  sharer  in  it.  .  .  .  Mr.  Bunce,  the  gentleman  who  does 
me  the  favour  to  present  this  letter,  was  my  most  esteemed  friend  in 
Rome,  both  for  the  excellence  of  his  moral  character,  and  his  abilities 
in  architecture ;  he  was  present  when  that  noble  patron  of  arts,  the 
generous  Lord  Bristol  gave  me  a  draft  in  writing  for  the  payment  of 
my  work,  which  I  am  to  receive  as  I  may  have  occasion  for  it.  .  .  . 
As  my  friend  Mr.  Bunce  was  present  on  this  occasion,  he  can  inform 
you  of  all  the  particulars  relating  to  that  transaction,  as  well  as  every 
other  particular  relating  to  me  and  my  dear  Nancy,  who  upon  this 
occasion  has  behaved  with  the  most  heroic  virtue.' 

It  was  in  this  way  that  Romney  made  the  acquaintance  of  Bunce, 
who,  on  returning  to  London,  seems  to  have  started  on  an  independent 
professional  career  in  Kirby  Street,  Hatton  Garden,  from  which 
address  he  sent  a  design  for  a  College  to  the  Royal  Academy  Exhibi- 
tion of  1791.  In  the  following  year  he  moved  to  25  Queen  Street, 
Holborn,  continuing  to  exhibit  until  1797,  either  original  designs, 
among  them  Italian  artificial  cascades  for  villas,  or  drawings  made  in 
Italy,  such  as  'The  Temple  of  Apollo  at  Cori.'  It  was  between 
Bunce's  offices  in  Queen  Street  and  Romney's  studio  in  Cavendish 
Square  that  young  Tom  Hayley  was  obliged  to  'fly  like  a  shuttlecock  ' 
in  May  1797,  in  his  endeavours  to  get  the  two  busy  and  undecided 
men  to  fix  some  definite  day  on  which  they  could  all  go  down  together 
to  Earth  am. 

In  a  second  letter  to  his  son,  written  on  August  26th,  which  also 
has  reference  to  Romney's  proposed  building  at  Hampstead,  Hayley 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


speaks  of  him  as  one  who  '  with  all  his  oddities,  is  an  enchanting 
friend,  and  whom  I  love  better  and  better,  since  he  has  delighted  us 
and  himself  with  a  picture  that  breathes  the  true  spirit  of  friendship, 
and  of  which  you  are  to  be  so  considerable  a  part.'  Romney,  indeed, 
was  so  anxious  to  begin  building  and  to  consult  the  architect,  that  he 
and  his  host  ran  up  to  London  for  four  or  five  days,  and  on  their 
return  to  Eartham,  on  September  2nd,  took  back  Tom  with  them. 

This  picture  of  the  four  friends  was,  says  John  Romney,  the  last 
considerable  picture  he  painted.  '  Here  terminates  Mr.  Romney 's 
professional  life :  and  I  believe,  I  may  truly  say,  that  the  number  of 
pictures  painted  by  him  during  the  twenty  one  years  he  resided  in 
Cavendish  Square,  has  not  been  exceeded  by  any  other  artist  in  the 
same  period  ;  exclusive  of  an  immense  quantity  of  unfinished  portraits 
and  other  works,  which  had  been  accumulated  from  various  causes — 
and  all  this  in  the  decline  of  life,  when  his  general  health  was  infirm, 
when  his  application  was  frequently  interrupted  by  intervals  of  sick- 
ness, and  when,  latterly,  his  genius  had  almost  constantly  to  struggle 
with  an  oppressive  and  debilitating  languor/ 

He  painted  several  other  portraits  at  Eartham  in  1796,  including  a 
head  of  William  Guy,  the  surgeon  of  Chichester,  of  whom  Cowper 
said  '  that  he  won  his  heart  at  first  sight,'  while  Romney  declared 
'  that  he  had  never  examined  any  manly  features,  which  he  would 
sooner  chuse  for  a  model,  if  he  had  occasion  to  represent  the  compas- 
sionate benignity  of  our  Saviour.' 

Towards  the  end  of  September  '  the  trio  of  friends  enjoyed  a  sort 
of  triumphal  delight  in  seeing  that  production  of  Romney's  pencil, 
which  he  had  so  fervently  wished  to  place,  as  a  monument  of  his 
genius,  in  the  mansion  of  Petworth,  suspended  there  with  splendid 
effect,  and  the  most  friendly  applause.'1 

An  excursion  was  also  made  to  Wilton  to  see  the  celebrated 
collection  of  statuary,  and  to  Stonehenge.  They  stayed  two  nights  in 
Salisbury,  and  spent  the  best  part  of  a  day  at  Wilton,  where  Romney 
greatly  enjoyed  Lord  Radnor's  fine  collection  of  pictures.  On  their 
way  back  they  visited  Dr.  Warton  at  Wickham,  and  Romney  returned 
to  London  on  October  6th. 

He  relapsed  into  his  usual  depression  of  spirits  almost  as  soon  as  he 
was  home,  but  was  able  to  work  on  several  paintings,  including  a  group 

1  Hayley's  own  Memoirs,  page  233. 

210 


DECLINING  HEALTH 


of  his  old  friend  Adam  Walker  and  his  family,  which  is  now  in  the 
National  Portrait  Gallery. 

In  the  middle  of  November  Hayley  paid  him  an  unexpected  visit, 
and  while  there  Tom  spent  his  evenings  in  Cavendish  Square,  drawing 
by  the  side  of  his  father,  who  read  romances  aloud  for  the  general 
amusement.  Romney  was  at  work  at  the  time  on  the  full-length 
portrait  of  a  lady,  and  Hayley  persuaded  him  to  represent  her  '  in  a 
picturesque  greenhouse  with  some  rare  and  magnificent  flower  in  her 
hand  ' ;  and  for  this  purpose,  on  his  journey  back  to  Sussex,  took  the 
painter  with  him  as  far  as  Kew,  where,  with  the  assistance  of  Mr. 
Aiton,  the  royal  gardener,  they  succeeded  in  finding  a  flower  of  the 
kind  which  the  poet  thought  would  add  so  greatly  to  the  picture. 

On  Christmas  Day  Tom  Hayley  wrote  to  his  father  that  Romney 
was  about  to  finish  the  '  Four  Friends  '  group,  and  that,  having  become 
a  tolerably  good  rider,  he  had  purchased  a  pony,  which  '  seemed  to 
keep  the  painter  alive  ' ;  but  though  this  new  form  of  exercise  was  of 
benefit  to  his  health,  his  fits  of  melancholy  grew  deeper  and  more 
frequent,  and  caused  his  intimate  friends  much  alarm. 

'  It  was  a  favorite  idea  of  Mr.  Romney 's  in  the  decline  of  life,  to 
form  a  complete  Gallery  of  Casts,'  writes  his  son,  '  and  to  open  it  to 
any  youths  of  respectability ;  and  thus  to  afford  to  others  those 
facilities  of  study,  of  which  he  himself  had  not  had  the  benefit :  so  that 
when  his  own  practical  powers  should  forsake  him,  he  might  still  have 
the  gratification  of  promoting  the  acquirements  of  others  by  super- 
intending their  studies  himself — vice  cotis.  This  scheme  was  in  a  great 
measure  visionary ;  he  had,  however,  at  the  close  of  his  career,  three 
pupils  who  have  since  distinguished  themselves.'  These  were,  Isaac 
Pocock,  who  was  with  him  for  some  time ;  Lonsdale,  who  copied  from 
his  casts  and  studied  his  works,  under  the  artist's  supervision,  in  the 
spring  of  1799,  at  the  request  of  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  ;  and  Steward- 
son,  his  last  pupil,  who  was  with  him  when  he  returned  to  Kendal.1 

When  John  Romney  paid  a  visit  to  Cavendish  Square  in  1796,  he 
found  his  father  occupied  in  making  plans  of  fantastic  buildings  instead 
of  his  customary  studies  for  pictures.  '  It  was  evident  that  his  mind 
was  thrown  of  its  pivot,  and  that  painting  had  lost  its  influence.  He 
was  on  the  point  of  signing  a  contract  for  four  acres  of  ground,  on  the 
Edgware  Road,  at  a  rent  of  forty  pounds  per  annum,  for  his  life ;  with 
a  stipulation  that  he  should  build  a  house  upon  it  under  certain  restric- 

1  See  page  277. 

211 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


tions.'  His  son,  who  saw  that  his  means  would  not  permit  this, 
suggested  the  advantage  of  buying  a  ready-built  house,  and  proposed 
the  purchase  of  one  then  in  the  market  on  Holly  Bush  Hill,  Hamp- 
stead, his  father's  favourite  locality,  to  which  he  might  add  a  gallery 
and  painting-room  at  a  small  expense.  Romney  agreed  to  this,  and 
Sir  James  Graham,  the  solicitor,  having  allowed  him  to  abandon  his 
original  intentions,  the  Hampstead  property  was  bought  for  about 
£700.  The  additions  to  be  made  to  it,  John  Romney  calculated, 
would  come  to  about  £500  more.  '  Thus  I  left  him,  and,  as  I  flattered 
myself,  extricated  from  a  ruinous  project.  He  was,  however,  unfor- 
tunately, under  the  influence  of  some  worthless  people,  who  profited 
by  his  imprudence.  By  them,  and  also  by  Mr.  Hayley,  he  was  still 
encouraged  in  the  scheme  of  building.  The  house  was  a  very  good 
one,  and  convenient  in  all  respects,  with  a  very  large  garden  pleasantly 
situated,  and  an  excellent  stable,  coach-house,  etc.,  above  the  garden, 
on  the  top  of  the  hill.  In  1797  and  1798,  having  pulled  down  the 
stable,  etc.,  he  built  a  new  one  upon  some  adjoining  ground,  which  he 
had  subsequently  purchased ;  and  upon  the  site  of  the  old  stable  he 
raised  a  whimsical  structure,  consisting  chiefly  of  a  picture  and  statue 
gallery ;  but  with  few  domestic  accommodations :  to  this  he  also 
joined  half  the  garden,  in  which  he  built  a  wooden  arcade  for  a  riding 
house.  Hither  he  removed  at  Christmas,  1798,  before  the  walls  were 
dry,  and  let  the  old  house  at  Hampstead  for  a  rent  which  paid  good 
interest  for  the  original  purchase  money.  The  removal  of  his  pictures, 
casts,  etc.  was  attended  with  considerable  expense  ;  and  for  want  of 
adequate  room,  the  pictures  were  crammed  into  all  vacant  places,  or 
arranged  along  the  arcade,  where,  being  exposed  in  the  open  air  to  the 
alternate  action  of  moisture  and  frost,  they  were  almost  entirely 
destroyed  in  the  course  of  the  winter ;  several,  also,  were  stolen.  The 
expense  of  the  new  building  amounted  to  two  thousand,  seven  hun- 
dred, and  thirty  three  pounds,  besides  many  incidental  charges  of  which 
there  was  no  account.  This  structure  and  its  appurtenances,  when 
afterwards  sold  by  auction,  produced  no  more  than  three  hundred  and 
fifty  seven  pounds ;  and  the  old  house,  curtailed  of  the  stables,  and  of 
so  large  a  part  of  the  garden,  fetched  a  price  equal  to  the  original 
purchase  money.  Such  was  the  unfortunate  result  of  his  building 
scheme. 

'  He  sold  the  lease  of  his  house  in  Cavendish  Square  to  Mr.  Shee, 
and  superadded,  as  far  as  it  was  in  his  power  to  confer  it,  the  good 
will  also ;  and  as  a  test  of  his  countenance,  sat  to  him  for  his  portrait. 
212 


THE  HAMPSTEAD  HOUSE 

This  picture,  however,  without  any  reflection  upon  that  distinguished 
artist,  was  not  a  fair  representation  of  his  physiognomy ;  because  it 
was  taken  at  a  time  when  he  was  oppressed  with  mental  languor, 
and  when  his  faculties  were  in  some  degree  impaired.  It  does  not 
give  that  keen  and  penetrating  look,  which  formerly  indicated  the 
power  of  his  genius,  it  only  represents  a  mental  ruin,  made  more 
conspicuous,  perhaps,  by  the  accuracy  of  the  similitude.'1 

The  house  Romney  built  is  still  in  existence,  and  is  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Hampstead  Constitutional  Club.  There  are  some 
good,  large  rooms  remaining  on  the  ground  floor,  including  part  of 
the  gallery  Romney  built  for  his  collection  of  casts,  decorated  with 
handsome  columns.  The  bedroom  accommodation  was  scanty,  and 
the  whole  arrangement  characteristic  of  the  painter.  The  epithet 
'  whimsical '  applied  to  it  by  his  son  was  a  just  one.  There  was  a 
lovely  view  from  the  upper  windows  in  those  days,  embracing  a 
panorama  of  London,  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's,  and  the  Thames  Valley, 
which  is  now  all  shut  out.  According  to  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland 
Gower,  the  building,  which  is  covered  over  with  a  kind  of  wooden 
boarding,  has  the  appearance  of  a  large  stable,  and,  as  a  living  house, 
must  have  been  supremely  uncomfortable. 

The  building  of  this  extraordinary  abode  caused  much  comment 
among  his  fellow  artists.  J.  T.  Smith,  in  his  Nollekens  and  his 
Times,  says :  '  It  was  to  Hampstead  that  Hayley's  friend,  Romney 
the  painter,  retired  in  the  decline  of  his  life,  when  he  built  a  dining- 
room  close  to  his  kitchen,  with  a  buttery-hatch  opening  into  it,  so  that 
he  and  his  friends  might  enjoy  beef-steaks,  hot  and  hot,  upon  the  same 
plan  as  the  members  of  the  Beef-steak  Club  are  supplied  at  their  room 
in  the  Lyceum.' 

1  John  Romney,  pp.  251-2. 


213 


XVIII 


FROM  the  beginning  of  1797  Romney's  depression  grew  still 
more  pronounced,  and  his  few  remaining  years  were  more  and 
more  darkened  by  gradually  increasing  symptoms  of  mental 
decay.  Hayley's  son  used  to  visit  him  as  much  as  possible.  '  He  is 
so  much  alone,'  he  reported  to  his  father,  '  and  sometimes  |p  low 
spirited,  that  he  takes  it  as  a  kindness  in  me  to  call  and  sit  with  him 
an  hour  or  two.' 

He  was  not  continually  plunged  in  gloom,  however,  and  his 
intimate  friends  were  always  made  welcome.  Tom,  in  one  of  his 
letters,  describes  a  dinner  party  at  which  he  was  present,  when  the 
guests  included  Flaxman,  Adam  Walker  and  two  of  his  sons,  Mr. 
Howard  and  Mr.  Bunce.  '  Mr.  Romney  was  in  high  spirits  and  good 
humour.'  Bunce  was  then  at  work,  not  only  for  the  painter,  but  also 
on  the  plans  for  '  a  singular  original  cottage,  with  turrets  shooting  up 
about  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  above  the  roof,'  which  Hayley  was  about 
to  build  for  himself  at  the  seaside  village  of  Felpham. 

A  few  days  later  Tom  dined  again  at  Cavendish  Square  with 
William  Meyer,  and  he  tells  of  various  tea-drinkings,  and  of  evenings 
spent  in  copying  from  Romney's  collection  of  casts. 

Romney  himself  wrote  more  cheerfully  to  Hayley  on  March  17th, 
saying  that  he  had  sold  his  picture  of  the  '  Indian  Woman '  for  a 
good  price.  4  There  is  also  a  plan  on  foot  to  ornament  St.  Paul's 
with  pictures  and  sculpture.  Pray  God  it  may  succeed.  What  an 
opening  for  dear  Tom.  ...  I  saw  the  Bishop  of  Llandaff  yesterday, 
he  expects  us  both  at  Calgarth  Park  in  the  summer.'  Romney  had 
painted  the  bishop's  portrait ;  but  for  some  reason  or  other  the 
proposed  visit  was  never  paid.  The  '  Indian  Woman '  picture  was  the 
one  already  described  which  was  purchased  by  Beckford  for  Fonthill. 

In  the  same  letter  Romney  refers  to  the  sad  death  of  his  friend 
Hodges,  the  painter,  for  whom  he  had,  at  Hodges'  own  request, 
painted  the  small  figure  of  Jaques,  for  which  Hayley  sat,  in  the 
landscape  from  As  You  Like  It  which  the  latter  had  done  for  the 
214 


MRS.  STRATFORD  CANNING  AND  HER  DAUGHTER 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  LORD  LEITH  OF  FYVIE 

Page  311 


PLATE  XI.  11' 


LADY  HAMILTON  AS  A  NUN 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  MR.  TANKERV1LLE  CH  AM  BERLAYNE 

Page  31s 


VISITS  TO   EARTH  AM 


Shakespeare  Gallery.  'Though,'  says  Hayley,  'the  greater  artist 
certainly  worked  with  perfect  good-will  for  his  less  prosperous  brother, 
I  cannot  say  that  he  worked  happily  on  this  occasion,  for  the  figure, 
that  he  introduced  appears  not  worthy  of  the  landscape.'  Hodges 
afterwards  abandoned  art  for  banking  with  disastrous  results.  The 
original  study  for  the  figure  of  Jaques,  as  already  noted,  was  given  by 
Romney  to  Tom  Hayley. 

Romney's  health  revived  in  some  small  degree  during  the  spring. 
He  went  to  Eartham  on  April  13th,  and  while  there  took  part  in 
the  ceremony  of  laying  the  foundation  stone  of  the  '  small  marine 
villa '  at  Felpham,  where  Hayley  afterwards  resided.  It  took  some 
persuasion  to  get  him  there.  Tom  wrote  to  his  father  on  February 
27th  :  '  I  saw  Mr.  Romney  yesterday,  and  read  to  him  what  you 
said.  What  a  nervous  creature  he  is !  Sometimes  he  thinks  he 
cannot  go,  and  will  not  be  well  enough  to  move ;  and  then  again, 
he  imagines  it  will  be  the  best  thing  for  his  health.' 

When  Romney  had  at  last  made  up  his  mind  to  start,  it  was 
found  that  Bunce  could  not  get  away  for  three  weeks,  and  so  the 
journey  was  once  more  postponed.  '  I  fly  like  a  shuttlecock  from 
Cavendish  Square  to  Little  Queen  Street ! '  cries  Tom  in  despair. 
They  eventually  arrived  at  Eartham  unexpectedly  at  midnight  on 
April  13th,  the  two  elder  men  making  the  journey  in  a  post-chaise 
which  Romney  had  recently  purchased,  while  their  youthful  com- 
panion rode  the  painter's  pony  all  the  way,  and  knocked  himself  up 
in  doing  so.  The  stone-laying  ceremony  took  place  two  days  later. 
They  remained  some  weeks,  and  then  returned  as  they  came.  '  After 
a  warm  ride  I  arrived  in  Cavendish  Square  sooner  than  usual,'  writes 
Tom.  '  While  I  was  scribbling  the  few  lines  I  sent  you,  Mr. 
Cumberland  came  in,  by  appointment,  to  eat  a  mutton  chop  with  the 
painter.' 

Romney  went  again  to  Sussex  on  June  29th,  in  order  to  take 
young  Hayley  home,  as  the  boy  was  already  suffering  from  the  fatal 
malady  from  which  he  died  shortly  afterwards.  On  his  return  to 
London  he  wrote  to  Hayley,  on  July  12th — '  I  have  been  so  much 
depressed  in  spirits,  since  I  returned,  that  despair  almost  overturns 
me,  and  throws  my  building  scheme  almost  to  the  ground.'  He 
proposed  to  run  down  again  to  Eartham  at  the  end  of  the  following 
week  'to  enjoy  again  the  fine  balsamic  air  of  your  country.' 

He  did  so  on  August  7th,  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  James  Stanier 
Clarke.    Bunce  was  also  a  visitor.    Romney  was  not  in  a  condition 

215 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


to  paint,  so  amused  himself  by  sitting  to  Tom,  who  modelled  his 
bust.  '  It  was  a  little  less  than  life,  a  strong  resemblance,  a  creditable 
work  for  so  young  an  artist,  and  particularly  successful  in  the  great 
object  of  amusing  and  enlivening  the  friend,  whose  features  it  repre- 
sented.' Between  the  18th  and  24th  he  made  a  short  excursion  with 
Clarke  to  the  eastern  side  of  the  county.  Shortly  after  their  return 
to  Eartham,  as  Hayley  chronicles  with  pride,  they  had  visits  from  the 
Duke  of  Richmond,  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire,  and  Lord  Thurlow 
on  the  same  day.  '  We  have  been  honored  by  a  curious  trio  of  visiters 
to-day '  (said  Romney),  '  grandeur !  beauty !  and  genius !  but  all  so 
much  in  their  decline,  that  they  now  excite  rather  more  pity,  than 
admiration.' s  Words,  adds  Hayley,  which  at  this  time  were  very 
applicable  to  the  painter  himself. 

He  was,  happily  for  himself,  much  occupied  with  his  projected 
building.  He  had  abandoned  '  our  very  intelligent  and  honest  archi- 
tect,' Mr.  Bunce,  and  was  determined  to  give  play  to  his  own  fancy. 
He  ran  up  to  London  on  September  6th,  to  give  instructions  to  the 
workmen  about  the  picture  gallery,  returning  to  Eartham  on  the  10th. 
Sea-bathing  and  riding  had  strengthened  his  nerves,  so  that,  at  the 
particular  request  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  he  now  painted  the 
portrait  of  Miss  Le  Clerc,  who  came  to  sit  in  the  riding-house  at 
Eartham.  Lord  Thurlow,  who  was  residing  at  Bognor,  was  a  constant 
visitor  in  September,  as  Tom,  who  had  finished  the  bust  of  Romney, 
was  then  modelling  the  head  of  the  Lord  Chancellor. 

During  this  visit  Romney  also  began  two  historical  pictures, 
representing  the  two  Hayleys  as  Tobit  and  Tobias.  The  first,  in 
which  the  youth  prepares  to  heal  the  blindness  of  his  father,  was  con- 
siderably advanced  in  both  the  figures.  Romney  took  this  back  with 
him  to  London,  meaning  to  finish  it  speedily,  but  never  touched  it 
again.  The  second  sketch,  '  in  which  Tobias  looks  with  tender  exulta- 
tion on  the  restored  eyes  of  the  old  man,'  was  little  more  than  the  hasty 
work  of  half-an-hour,  but  an  excellent  likeness  of  young  Hayley,  and 
was  kept  by  his  father.  He  worked  at  these  two  studies  we  are  told, 
'  under  the  influence  of  a  sudden  and  warm  burst  of  joy  and  gratitude 
towards  his  friend  of  Eartham,'  who  had  just  succeeded  in  obtaining 
an  assurance  that  a  considerable  sum  of  money  which  had  long  been 
owing  to  the  artist  should  be  promptly  paid.  The  debtor  was  the 
Marquis  of  Donegal,  who  had  recently  died,  and  Romney  had 
abandoned  all  hope  of  receiving  his  fees.  The  widowed  Marchioness 
216 


HAYLEY  ABOUT  TO  LEAVE  EARTHAM 


was  then  staying  at  Felpham  for  the  bathing,  and  was  introduced  to 
the  Eartham  party  by  Lord  Thurlow.  She  readily  promised  Hayley 
that  his  friend  should  have  the  money.  The  poet  and  the  painter 
breakfasted  with  her  at  her  lodgings,  and  took  her  to  see  Hayley 's 
Marine  Villa,  as  he  loved  to  call  it.  With  all  his  faults,  he  was  a  man 
who  never  spared  himself  when  he  thought  he  could  be  of  assistance  to 
his  friends. 

This  visit  was  to  be,  so  both  host  and  guest  imagined,  the  last 
which  Romney  was  to  pay  to  Eartham.  Hayley,  who  had  never 
been  of  a  saving  disposition,  had  now  to  provide  for  a  separate 
establishment  for  his  wife,  a  woman  somewhat  given  to  extrava- 
gance and  careless  in  matters  of  expenditure,  so  that  he  found  it 
beyond  his  means  to  keep  up  Eartham  properly ; 1  and  it  was  his 
intention  to  leave  it  as  soon  as  the  smaller  house  at  Felpham  was 
finished. 

He  thus  moralises  in  his  diary  on  the  eve  of  Romney 's  departure 
for  London  :  '  I  close  the  month  in  paying  the  last  attentions  to  my 
old  infirm  friend,  as  after  cherishing  him  on  this  favourite  spot  for 
twenty-two  years  every  autumn,  I  must  now  consign  him  to  more 
opulent  protectors.  Having  through  life  been  highly  attentive  to  the 
interest  of  my  friends,  and  rather  too  careless  of  my  own,  I  must  try 
to  correct  my  error,  to  preserve  the  evening  of  my  day  from  indigence.' 
This  plan  of  removal  in  the  spring  of  1798  had,  however,  to  be  post- 
poned owing  to  the  serious  illness  of  his  son. 

Romney  at  this  period  of  his  life  was  not  in  all  ways  an  ideal 
visitor.  Hayley,  writing  to  Tom  after  his  departure,  and  speaking  of 
the  '  Tobias  and  Tobit '  design,  says :  '  The  more  I  look  at  it,  the 
more  I  am  delighted  with  the  varied  feelings  that  it  most  happily 
expresses ;  and  had  our  dear  Romney  executed  only  this  single 
rapid  sketch,  in  the  whole  summer,  he  would  have  done  enough  to 
reward  me  for  the  vexation  (great  as  it  was)  which  I  frequently 
endured  from  his  mental  infirmities.  Heaven  bless  him  and  preserve 
him  from  the  plagues  that  his  fancy  is  often  inclined  to  inflict  upon 
himself.' 

Romney,  as  was  his  wont,  returned  to  town  in  more  cheerful 
spirits,  though  deeply  regretting  that  in  all  probability  it  was  the 
last  visit  he  was  to  pay  to  Eartham.  This  feeling  he  expressed  in 
his  letter  of  thanks — '  I  still  look  back  with  a  tender  regard  for  the 
peaceful  shades  of  Eartham,  and  almost  sigh  for  some  of  its  social 

1  Mrs.  Hayley,  however,  died  toward  the  close  of  this  year  (1797). 

217 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


walks,  that  probably  I  may  never  see  more.  Adieu,  dear  Eartham  ! 
and  its  inhabitants,  adieu  ! ' 

At  the  beginning  of  1798,  he  still  maintained  the  improvement  in 
both  his  health  and  spirits.  Young  Isaac  Pocock  was  now  a  pupil  in 
his  house.  Tom  Hayley,  too,  had  returned  to  Flaxman's  studio,  and 
found  that  Romney  had  '  acquired  excellent  spirits,  by  walking  to, 
and  from  Hampstead,  an  exercise  that  does  him  more  good  than  riding. 
He  works  now  with  spirit,  and  he  has  found  his  long  lost  picture  of 
'  Cupid  and  Psyche,'  which  he  is  soon  to  finish.'  He  never  did  finish  it. 
He  had  begun  it  years  before,  and  it  was  a  favourite  design  with  him, 
and  he  had  promised  to  complete  it  for  William  Long ;  but  once  again 
good  resolutions  came  to  nothing.1 

One  of  the  last  pictures  of  any  size  with  which  he  occupied  himself 
was  the  portrait-group  of  Adam  Walker  and  his  family,  already  referred 
to,  now  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery,  which  represents  the  philoso- 
pher, his  wife  and  daughter  seated  at  a  table  with  a  roll  of  papers  spread 
in  front  of  them,  covered  with  a  mathematical  diagram  which  they  are 
studying,  while  the  three  sons  stand  behind,  the  two  elder  engaged  with 
a  telescope,  and  the  youngest  looking  down  at  his  father.  Romney 
felt  himself  unable  to  complete  the  work,  and  so  sent  it,  a  year  or  two 
later,  in  its  unfinished  state,  with  only  the  heads  painted,  to  Walker, 
who  had  the  draperies  put  in  by  another  hand.  In  the  letter  of  thanks 
he  wrote  to  Romney,  then  in  Kendal,  he  expressed  his  pleasure  that 
his  old  friend  should  once  more  be  united  with  his  wife. 

'  My  dear  old  Friend,'  he  wrote  from  Conduit  Street,  on  January 
27  th,  1802,  'I  have  reproached  myself  these  several  months  past  for 
not  writing  to  you,  and  particularly  to  thank  you  for  your  last  most 
agreeable  present,  my  family  picture.  I  have  got  the  draperies  painted, 
and  a  handsome  frame,  so  it  is  the  great  lion  of  my  parlour.  The  next 
to  it  is  '  King  Lear  and  his  Daughter,'  which,  now  it  is  cleaned,  looks 
almost  as  fresh  as  when  I  sat  to  you,  with  a  gown  on  for  its  drapery, 
forty  years  since  !  I  was  very  glad  to  hear  by  our  friend  Greene  that 
you  were  in  much  better  health  than  when  you  left  London,  and  I  hope 
you  continue  so.  As  to  myself,  I  am  as  well  as  I  have  any  right  to 
expect  in  my  seventieth  year,  and  after  the  loss  of  one  of  the  best  of 
wives,  a  loss  which  I  must  lament  to  the  last  hour  of  my  life,  tho'  I 
did  everything  to  save  her  that  change  of  air  or  place,  advice,  or  money 
could  do.  Alas  !  in  vain — and  I  feel  even  yet  as  if  I  wanted  one  of  my 
arms,  and  1  miss  her  wherever  I  go,  or  whatever  I  do  !    Tho'  I  have 

1  See  pages  90  and  358. 

218 


TOM   HAYLEY'S  ILLNESS 


lost  a  good  wife,  I  rejoice,  my  dear  friend,  that  you  have  regained  a 
good  one,  and  long  may  you  be  happy  together.' 

Among  other  works  painted  by  Romney  which  Walker  possessed, 
were  the  latter's  own  portrait,  a  small  full  length,  in  the  style  of  the 
'  Jacob  Morland '  in  the  National  Gallery,  '  the  first  portrait  Romney 
ever  painted,'  and  the  two  battle-pieces,  copied  from  prints,  which 
Walker  rescued  from  Steele's  studio  in  Manchester,  when  that 
irresponsible  person  flitted  away  to  Ireland  leaving  nothing  but  debts 
behind  him. 

Romney,  who  took  much  pleasure  in  befriending  all  young  artists, 
grew  very  anxious  about  young  Hayley's  health,  and  begged  his  father 
to  take  him  back  to  Sussex.  This  was  at  length  done,  and  it  was  then 
discovered  that  he  was  suffering  from  curvature  of  the  spine.  It  was 
hoped  that  he  would  recover,  but  through  the  earlier  mistakes  of  the 
doctors  in  diagnosing  the  case,  it  was  then  too  late  to  do  more  than 
prolong  his  life  for  a  short  time. 

On  April  18th,  Romney,  in  writing  to  ask  after  the  invalid,  says, 
'  I  hope  summer  will  complete  his  recovery,  and  that  I  may  see  you 
and  him  the  next  winter  upon  the  hill  at  Hampstead,  where  I  hope  to 
have  my  new  mansion  thoroughly  dried,  fit  for  your  reception,  and  my 
gratification,  as  it  is  now  in  a  very  advanced  state,  and  much  to  my 
liking.  It  will  equal  my  most  ardent  expectation  in  every  respect  for 
beauty  and  convenience.  ...  It  will  be  very  warm,  and  very  con- 
venient for  every  study.  I  really  think  it  may  be  a  desirable  plan  for 
dear  Tom  to  come  and  stay  for  two  or  three  months,  and  employ  his 
masterly  hand  there  after  his  recovery.  ...  I  have  suffered  much  lately 
with  relaxation  and  debility.' 

He  also  adds  that  he  intends  to  go  to  the  north  as  soon  as  he  can, 
for  two  or  three  months,  '  which  I  hope  will  restore  an  enfeebled  con- 
stitution,' and  mentions  Cockin,  the  arithmetician,  who,  'has  been  ill 
of  a  slow  fever  ever  since  you  left  London.'  This  was  the  old  friend 
of  his  youth,  who  had  come  from  the  north  on  purpose  to  look  after 
Romney,  with  whom  he  took  up  his  residence. 

William  Cockin,  who  was  Romney 's  junior  by  two  years,  was 
born  at  Burton  in  Kendal  in  1736,  and  was  a  teacher  of  writing 
and  arithmetic  in  his  younger  days  in  several  schools  in  London, 
and  afterwards  for  twenty  years  at  the  Lancaster  Grammar  School, 
where  he  removed  in  1764.  On  leaving  Lancaster  he  taught  for 
eight  years  at  Mr.  Blanchard's  Academy  in  Nottingham,  afterwards 
returning  to  his  native  town.    He  died  in  Romney 's  house  at  Kendal, 

219 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


on  May  30th,  1801,  aged  sixty-five,  and  was  buried  at  Burton.  He 
published  a  number  of  volumes  in  prose  and  verse  on  various  subjects. 
His  ode  to  Romney,  written  in  1767,  has  been  mentioned  already. 
In  1764  he  published  a  Rational  and  Practical  Treatise  of  Arithmetic, 
and  in  1775,  The  Art  of  delivering  written  Language,  which  he 
dedicated  to  Garrick.  Other  works  were  an  Essay  on  the  Doctrine 
of  the  Syphon,  Ode  to  the  Genius  of  the  Lakes,  The  Fall  of  Scepticism 
and  Infidelity  predicted,  an  epistle  in  verse  addressed  to  Dr.  Beattie, 
and  The  Rural  Sabbath,  a  poem.  '  He  was  deeply  read  in  divinity,' 
says  John  Romney,  '  and  his  practical  conduct  was  consistent  with  his 
learning;  for  a  more  meek  and  benevolent  creature  never  graced 
humanity.  His  virtues  were  almost  without  alloy.  His  elocution 
was  mild  and  impressive,  and  he  could  talk  on  all  subjects  of  literature 
and  taste  with  great  fluency  and  judgment.'  He  was  a  good  friend, 
also,  to  Peter  Romney,  when  the  latter  was  left  behind  in  Kendal 
after  the  elder  brother  had  gone  to  seek  his  fortune  in  London,  and 
carried  on  a  correspondence  with  him  which  extended  over  several 
years. 

Romney 's  health  was  now  so  bad  that  it  allowed  him  to  do  little 
work,  except  occasional  faint  attempts  to  finish  some  of  his  neglected 
portraits.  Hayley  was  in  London  in  May,  and  found  him  looking 
well  in  outward  appearance,  but  complaining  of  extreme  weakness, 
which  affected  his  mind.  '  Few  conditions  in  human  existence  appear 
more  pitiable  than  that  degree  of  weakness,  produced  by  excessive 
application  to  a  favorite  study,  when  a  man  of  a  very  active  and 
enterprizing  spirit,  finds  that  his  faculties  are  beginning  to  desert 
him.  Such  was  the  state  of  my  unhappy  friend  at  this  time,'  Hayley 
moralises.  '  His  mind  was  full  of  noble  desires  and  intentions  to  form 
a  little  domestic  academy,  and  improve  himself  in  directing  the  studies 
of  a  few  selected  young  friends  and  disciples.  Had  he  entered  on 
such  a  beneficent  project  earlier  in  life,  he  might  possibly  have 
produced  much  good ;  but  he  was  now  greatly  enervated  by  that 
premature  old  age,  which  he  had  brought  upon  himself  by  excessive 
application  to  his  art,  and  by  the  unwholesome  custom  of  painting 
in  a  room  immoderately  hot.  At  present  he  suffered  much  from 
lassitude  of  body,  and  restlessness  of  mind ;  yet  he  looked  forward, 
with  some  degree  of  hope,  to  expected  seasons  of  more  personal  com- 
fort and  activity.' 

Unable  to  work,  Romney  determined  to  pay  a  visit  to  his  old 
home,  for  the  first  time  during  the  course  of  thirty  years.    His  son, 
220 


ROMNEY   REVISITS  KENDAL 


who  had  not  seen  him  since  1796,  followed  him  there.  He  found 
him  more  corpulent,  and  apparently  more  healthy ;  '  but  this  appear- 
ance was  fallacious,  and  I  soon  perceived  that  the  energy  of  his  mind 
was  impaired.  He  still,  however,  could  take  likenesses  with  great 
accuracy ;  but  not  having  any  oil  colours  with  him,  his  attempts  were 
only  in  crayons.'  John  Romney  took  him  for  a  trip  to  the  Lakes,  to 
visit  the  scenes  of  his  youth  ;  '  but  they  did  not  seem  to  afford  him 
that  degree  of  gratification,  which  one  might  have  expected  in  a  man 
formerly  so  alive  to  the  beauties  of  nature.  I  apprehend  that  he 
must  already  have  experienced  some  slight  paralytic  affection,  which, 
I  have  no  doubt,  took  place  while  he  was  engaged  with  the  picture 
of  The  Temptation  of  Christ,  and  which  consequently  put  a  stop  to 
that  grand  design.  In  the  following  winter  (1798),  he  complained  of 
a  swimming  in  his  head,  so  that  he  could  not  see  with  precision,  and 
was  frequently  rubbing  the  back  of  his  hand,  where  he  felt  a  numb- 
ness.' He  then  owned  to  his  son  that  he  had  suffered  something  in 
the  nature  of  a  paralytic  stroke,  which  was  probably  a  second  attack. 
We  are  not  actually  told  that  he  stayed  with  his  wife  on  this  occasion, 
but  it  is  evident  that  he  did  so. 

He  was  back  again  in  London  in  August,  and  spent  part  of 
September  at  Felpham  with  the  Hayleys,  where  he  took  lodgings  for 
himself.  He  found  the  young  sculptor  extremely  ill,  and  unable  to 
move  from  his  sofa.  Romney  made  no  attempt  to  paint,  and  his 
host  records  that  '  it  was  the  only  Autumn  of  the  last  twenty-three, 
in  which  I  had  the  mortification  of  seeing  Romney  in  a  state  of 
absolute  manual  inactivity,  and  mental  discomfort.'  He  was  so 
impatient  to  see  his  Hampstead  house  that  he  could  not  rest  quietly 
in  the  country,  but  returned  to  London  on  September  11th.  Here 
Hayley  visited  him  shortly  afterwards,  and  found  him  much  dejected 
'  for  want  of  occupation  and  society  :  I  advised  him  to  employ  him- 
self a  little  with  his  pencil,  and  offered  to  sit  to  him  merely  for  his 
amusement.  He  began  a  head,  the  first  attempt  in  his  new  painting 
room,  and  though  his  hand  shook  a  little,  yet  he  made  a  very  credit- 
able beginning,  that  pleased  himself.  The  next  morning  he  advanced 
his  sketch  more  happily,  as  the  very  effort  of  beginning  to  work 
again,  under  the  encouragement  of  an  old  friend,  seemed  to  have  done 
him  good.' 

'As  we  readily  believe  what  we  strongly  wish,'  he  goes  on  to  say, 
'  I  was  sanguine  in  my  persuasion,  that  by  exhorting  Romney  to 
fresh  and  fearless  exercise  of  his  pencil,  1  might  render  him  the  most 

221 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


friendly  service ;  but  I  am  now  inclined  to  think,  there  was  more  of 
kindness  than  of  discretion,  in  that  idea;  whenever  there  is  a  perceptible 
decline,  occasioned  by  age,  in  the  mental  and  manual  powers  of  a  man, 
who  has  obtained  celebrity  in  any  art  or  profession,  perhaps  it  should 
be  the  aim  of  sincere  friendship  to  lead  him,  if  his  circumstances  show 
it,  to  what  Pope  calls  "  the  science  of  retreat."  ' 

Hayley  remained  with  him  for  a  week  or  two,  and  did  his  best  to 
interest  and  amuse  him.  He  took  him  for  a  day's  expedition  to  Kew, 
and  escorted  several  people  to  Hampstead  to  see  the  '  Caro  Pittore  on 
his  lofty  hill,'  including  the  two  Misses  Lushington,  whom  he  calls  the 
'  amiable  yQung  nymphs  of  the  pencil.'  '  Though  our  tender  Romney 
suffers  in  his  nervous  system  from  the  rainy  weather,'  he  wrote  to  the 
invalid  at  Felpham,  '  he  was  much  pleased  with  his  guests,  and  amused 
with  the  sketch-book  of  Augusta,  the  youngest,  which  I  carried  to  him 
as  an  interesting  proof  of  strong  native  talents.  Such  it  appears  to  him 
and  to  Flaxman.'  '  Isaac  is  an  excellent  youth,'  he  says  in  another 
letter,  speaking  of  Pocock,  '  and  seems  to  promise  highly  for  art.  He 
is  making  large  copies  of  the  Milton  and  the  Newton  of  our  friend. 
Romney's  own  apartments  in  his  lofty  structure,  are  in  excellent  order, 
and  he  ought  to  be  contented  and  happy ;  he  talks  of  you  with  great 
kindness,  and  hopes  yet  to  see  you  a  great  painter.'  As  one  result  of 
this  visit  Romney  presented  Hayley  with  the  unfinished  sketch  of 
'  Serena  reading  the  newspaper.'1 

Romney  was,  after  all,  to  pay  one  more  visit  to  Eartham,  to  which 
house  Tom  Hayley  had  been  removed  from  the  milder  air  of  Felpham. 
He  went  on  February  7th,  1799,  taking  his  pupil,  Isaac  Pocock,  with 
him,  and  Hayley,  of  course,  seized  the  opportunity  of  inditing  a  tedious 
sonnet  in  honour  of  his  younger  visitor.  '  We  all  united  our  influence 
to  reanimate  the  dejected  Romney.  He  was  inspirited  by  our  united 
exhortations  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  began  a  drawing  of  his  two 
juvenile  friends,  one  resting  on  the  other,  and  to  shew  the  fervency  of 
his  re-kindled  spirit  he  made  a  fresh  historical  sketch  from  a  scene  in 
Macbeth.'1  On  the  first  of  March,  he  began  another  portrait  of  him- 
self, in  spectacles,  which  he  had  finished  by  the  6th,  and  then  returned 
to  town  on  the  following  day  with  Pocock,  declaring  that  the  visit  had 
done  him  much  good. 

He  only  remained  in  London  a  few  months,  however,  and  then, 
feeling  the  end  approaching,  turned  at  the  last  to  the  home  he  had 
abandoned  so  many  years  before.    Hayley  saw  him  for  the  last  time  at 

1  See  page  127-  2  Hayley,  page  293. 

222 


FINAL   RETURN  TO  KENDAL 


Hampstead  on  April  28th,  when  he  '  had  the  grief  of  perceiving,  that 
his  increasing  weakness  of  body,  and  mind,  afforded  only  a  gloomy 
prospect  for  the  residue  of  his  life.' 

Almost  the  last  word  we  have  of  him  before  he  left  London  is 
contained  in  a  letter  from  Flaxman  to  his  pupil,  then  slowly  dying 
at  Eartham,  dated  July  5th,  1799  :  '  I  and  my  father  dined  at  Mr. 
Romney's  at  Hampstead,  last  Sunday,  by  particular  invitation,  and 
were  received  in  the  most  cordial  manner ;  but  alas  !  I  was  grieved  to 
see  so  noble  a  collection  in  a  state  so  confused,  so  mangled,  and  pre- 
pared, I  fear,  for  worse,  and  not  better.'  '  He  soon  afterwards  retired 
to  Kendal,'  Hayley's  narrative  continues,  'where  he  had  the  comfort  of 
finding  an  attentive  affectionate  nurse,  in  a  most  exemplary  wife,  who 
had  never  been  irritated  to  an  act  of  unkindness,  or  an  expression  of 
reproach,  by  his  years  of  absence  and  neglect.  His  early  and  long 
estrangement  from  a  virtuous  partner  and  parent,  so  mild  and  meri- 
torious, was  the  great  error  of  his  life  ;  it  appears  the  more  pitiable  as 
it  proceeded  originally  from  mistaken  ideas  of  professional  ambition, 
and  it  continued  from  that  awkward  pride,  by  which  men  of  quick 
and  apprehensive  spirits  are  too  frequently  deterred  from  confessing 
and  correcting  their  own  misconduct. 

'  In  his  letters  to  me  from  Kendal  my  old  friend  did  not  fail  to  do 
full,  though  late,  justice  to  the  virtues  of  his  excellent  wife.  He  spoke 
of  her  kind  attention  with  the  tenderest  gratitude,  and  professed  him- 
self as  comfortable  in  her  indulgent  care  of  him,  as  with  nerves  so 
shaken  he  could  expect  to  be.  He  informed  me,  that  although 
obliged  to  renounce  oil  colours,  he  could  sometimes  amuse  himself  in 
sketching  a  portrait  in  crayons,  and  had  pleased  himself  in  purchasing 
a  pretty  large  estate  in  that  country. ' 

Romney  was  no  longer  able  to  hold  a  pen,  and  such  letters  as 
these  were  written  for  him  by  his  old  and  faithful  friend,  Cockin,  who 
had  accompanied  him  to  the  North.  He  had  now  abandoned  all  hope 
of  returning  to  live  in  his  new  mansion,  and  authorised  his  son  to  sell 
the  Hampstead  estate.  At  the  same  time  he  purchased  some  land  at 
Whitestock  Howe,  near  Newton-in-Cartmel,  as  some  provision  for  his 
wife  and  son,  and  it  was  here  that  John  Romney  afterwards  built 
Whitestock  Hall,  the  house  and  property  remaining  in  the  family 
possession  until  1901. 

In  1800  young  Hayley  died,  and  in  the  following  year  Cockin 
also  passed  away.  Once  again  before  his  own  death  Romney  was  to 
have  news  of  Lady  Hamilton.    When  this  lady  returned  from  Naples, 

223 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


with  the  triumphant  Nelson,  she  expressed,  says  Hayley,  '  the  most 
friendly  solicitude  concerning  the  health  of  our  beloved  artist,  and  an 
anxious  wish  concerning  a  portrait  of  herself,  which  he  had  most 
kindly  intended  to  present  to  her  mother.' 

Hayley  thereupon  wrote  as  follows  :  '  Carissimo  Pittore, — I  receive 
infinite  pleasure  in  finding  from  various  reports  of  you  that  you  seem  to 
enjoy  ever  rosy  Health,  and  I  thank  you  for  a  kind  letter  in  the  hand 
of  your  friendly  Secretary;  it  found  me  in  London,  where  I  have  been 
pleased  beyond  Expression  in  receiving  from  our  friend  Lady  Hamilton 
every  mark  of  kind  remembrance  and  cordial  Friendship.  She  has 
charmed  me,  not  only  in  singing  to  me  in  the  kindest  manner  at  dif- 
ferent Times,  but  also  in  ever  speaking  of  you  in  such  terms  of  sincere 
Regard  as  would  affect  every  Fibre  of  your  Frame  with  tender 
Delight.  She  is,  I  think,  more  beautiful  and  more  astonishing  in 
Talent  than  ever.  I  have  promised  to  remember  her  most  Kindly  to 
you,  and  I  am  persuaded  you  will  thank  me  for  telling  you  how  you 
may  gratify  her  in  the  highest  Degree — by  devoting  to  her  Mother  the 
Portrait  of  herself  in  a  blue  Hat,  which  I  believe  you  have  in  your 
Hampstead  Collection.  I  called  at  your  Hampstead  Door  some  Days 
ago  to  show  a  young  lady  (whom  I  call  my  Daughter)  that  interesting 
scene  of  art,  but  unluckily  the  servant  was  abroad,  and  of  course  we 
could  gain  no  admission. 

'  I  send  you  a  ballad,  which  I  have  recently  written  for  a  charitable 
purpose,  with  decorations  by  our  good  enthusiastic  Blake,1  who  is 
happily  settled  in  that  cottage  at  Felpham  which  you  used  to  admire. 
Flaxman  is  as  energetic  as  ever,  and  has  now  literally  found  a  sweet 
Monument  for  our  beloved  Tom — whose  loss  I  must  ever  feel  with  a 
mixture  of  awful  exultation  in  a  conviction  of  his  present  Beatitude. 
May  we  all  meet  happily  in  Heaven — such  is  the  prayer  of  your  affec- 
tionate Friend.  London,  Dec.  4. — Write  me  directly,  as  your  Secre- 
tary is  with  you,  and  commission  me,  if  you  please,  to  find,  and  present 
in  your  name,  the  picture  I  have  mentioned,  to  Lady  Hamilton's 
mother,  who  is  with  her  in  London.  Direct  to  me  at  Samuel  Rose's, 
Esq.,  Chancery  Lane.' 

Samuel  Rose  was  the  young  man  who,  in  1787,  made  Cowper's 
acquaintance,  and  afterwards  became  his  close  friend,  taking  the  place 

1  '  A  Series  of  Ballads  (about  Animals).  Chichester  :  Printed  by  J.  Seagrave,  for  W.  Blake, 
Felpham,  1802,'  4to,  issued  in  four  parts,  in  blue  paper  cover,  with  14  engravings  (including  head 
and  tail  pieces)  by  Blake  from  his  own  designs. 

224 


LAST  DAYS 


of  Unwin  in  his  affections.  He  was  the  son  of  Mr.  William  Rose,  a 
schoolmaster  of  Chiswick,  and  a  writer  in  the  Monthly  Review.  When 
Hayley  obtained  a  pension  of  £300  a  year  for  the  poet  through  Lord 
Spencer,  Lord  Thurlow,  Cowper's  old  schoolfellow,  having  failed  him, 
Rose  was  appointed  his  trustee.  He  died  in  1804  in  his  thirty-eighth 
year. 

The  portrait  of  Lady  Hamilton  in  the  blue  hat  was  possibly  the 
one  sometimes  called  '  The  Ambassadress,'  now  in  the  possession  of  Sir 
Robert  Harvey,  which  lias  been  already  described.1  Romney,  in  his 
reply  to  Hayley,  dated  Kendal,  December  7th,  1800,  said:  '  What  you 
say  respecting  Lady  Hamilton  gives  me  great  pleasure  indeed  ;  if  the 
picture,  you  mention,  be  at  Hampstead,  I  shall  be  happy  in  gratifying 
her  mother  with  it,  and  I  trust  you  will  take  the  trouble  of  conveying 
it  to  her  in  the  properest  manner.' 

A  few  days  later,  Hayley  succeeded  in  unearthing  it  from  among 
a  heap  of  discarded  canvases  and  unfinished  pictures,  and  wrote  to 
Kendal  to  tell  the  painter  how  much  the  gift  had  delighted  the  fair 
Emma  and  Mrs.  Cadogan.  In  his  answer  Romney  said  :  '  The  plea- 
sure I  should  receive  from  a  sight  of  the  amiable  Lady  Hamilton, 
would  be  as  salutary,  as  great ;  yet  I  fear,  except  I  should  enjoy  more 
strength  and  better  spirits  at  a  better  time  of  the  year,  I  shall  never  be 
able  to  see  London  again ;  I  feel  every  day  greater  need  of  care  and 
attention,  and  here  I  experience  them  in  the  highest  degree.' 

By  the  beginning  of  1801  he  had,  indeed,  finally  abandoned  all  hope 
of  ever  returning  to  his  London  studio,  and  on  March  18th  Messrs. 
Christie  sold,  by  his  instruction,  'the  collection  of  castes  from  the  antique, 
a  very  fine  skeleton,  and  other  artistic  properties  of  George  Romney,  at 
his  late  residence,  Hollybush  Hill,  Hampstead,'  when  the  collection  of 
reproductions  of  antique  sculpture,  upon  which  Flaxman  had  bestowed 
so  much  pains,  was  scattered  in  all  directions. 

In  the  last  letter  of  all  that  he  dictated  to  his  most  faithful  corre- 
spondent, Romney  announced  that  he  had  just  received  the  good 
tidings  that  his  brother,  the  Colonel,  was  coming  home  from  India. 
'  The  Colonel  arrived  indeed  in  time  to  see  his  generous  fraternal 
patron  alive,  but  the  account,  that  the  former  gave  me  of  their  meet- 
ing, is  such,  as  I  can  hardly  write  without  a  painful  shudder  of  the 
heart.  The  invalide  did  not  recollect  the  brother,  whom  he  had  so 
anxiously  wished  to  see;  on  being  asked  if  he  did  not  know  him,  he 
looked  eagerly  in  his  face,  burst  into  an  agony  of  tears,  that  spoke  his 

1  See  page  167. 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


tender  remembrance,  and  then  immediately  lost  all  recollection  of  his 
person  and  character.  He  remained  for  some  time  in  that  state  of 
existence,  which  is  infinitely  more  afflicting  to  the  friends,  who  behold, 
than  to  the  mortal,  who  endures  it.'1 

'  It  would  be  desirable,'  says  his  son,  in  speaking  of  the  end,  '  to 
throw  a  veil  over  the  closing  years  of  his  life,  and  hide  the  infirmities 
of  human  nature.  .  .  .  Reason  .  .  .  became  entirely  extinct  before  the 
dissolution  of  the  body  ;  and  he  departed  from  life  mentally  the  same 
as  when  he  came  into  existence.  However  distressing  his  case  was  to 
those  about  him,  it  is  a  consolation  to  think,  that  he  was  unconscious 
of  his  situation,  and  never  suffered  any  bodily  pain  whatever.  He  died 
November  15th,  1802,  when  he  had  nearly  completed  his  sixty  eighth 
year.  As  his  sole  ambition  was  to  excel  in  his  art,  he  never  aspired 
to  any  other  distinction.  He  never  sought  to  be  admitted  into  any 
Society,  and  had  no  desire  to  affix  titles  to  his  name.  The  habits  of 
his  whole  life  were  simple,  and  unostentatious ;  and  like  them,  also, 
were  the  circumstances  connected  with  his  death,  which  were,  in  every 
respect,  a  contrast  to  those  of  his  more  fortunate  contemporaries  ;  who 
were  honoured  with  public  funerals,  had  their  bodies  deposited  in  St. 
Paul's,  and  monuments  or  statues  erected  to  their  fame ;  while  the 
canopy  of  heaven  is  the  dome  of  his  Mausoleum,  and  the  green  grass 
which  fringes  his  gravestone,  the  only  ornament  of  his  tomb.' 

News  travelled  slowly  in  those  days,  and  Hayley  did  not  hear  of 
his  death  until  November  30th,  when  he  wrote  in  his  diary  : — 

4  Rode  alone  to  Lavant — surprized  and  shocked  there  by  unexpected 
tidings,  in  the  newspaper,  of  my  dear  old  friend  Romney's  death,  at 
Kendal ;  my  feelings  concerning  him  made  the  morning  a  very  distress- 
ing one  to  me.    Heaven  bless  my  departed  old  friend  ! 

"  Peace  to  his  ashes !  to  his  memory  fame  !  "  ' 

The  poet  rose  at  dawn  on  the  following  day  and  began  the  composi- 
tion of  an  epitaph,  over  which  he  took  unusual  pains,  '  wishing  to  make 
it  like  one  of  Romney's  happiest  portraits,  just,  forcible,  and  tender.' 

He  was  buried  at  Dalton,  on  November  the  19th,  1802.  His  son 
wished  to  erect  a  simple  memorial  to  him  in  Dalton  Church  ;  but  met 
with  a  curt  rebuff  from  Lord  George  Cavendish,  the  owner  of  the  only 
part  of  the  wall  of  the  building  against  which  it  was  possible  to  place 
it.  John  Romney  never  fathomed  the  motives  which  lay  behind  this 
refusal — more  especially  as  Lady  Elizabeth  Cavendish  had  sat  to  the 

1  Havlev,  page  298. 

226 


PL  A  T  E  XLV 


LADY  HAMILTON 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  MR.    F.    C.  ARKWRIGHT 

Page  318 


PLATE  XL  VI 


HIS  GRAVE  AND  MONUMENT 


painter  at  a  time  when  Lord  George  was  paying  his  addresses  to  her, 
and  had  himself  attended  some  of  the  sittings.  Reynolds  also  painted 
a  fine  full-length  of  her,  when  Lady  Elizabeth  Compton,1  and  there  is 
a  good  group  by  Hoppner,  in  which  she  is  shown  with  her  two  boys  and 
her  little  girl.  The  desired  wall-space  was  afterwards  used  for  the 
erection  of  a  florid  monument  to  Lord  George's  steward,  and  John 
Romney  infers  that  he  had  incurred  this  attorney's  enmity  by  paying 
no  particular  court  to  him. 

In  the  end,  the  monument,  a  simple  one  of  black  marble,  was  taken 
back  to  Kendal  and  there  erected  in  the  parish  church,  as  a  cenotaph, 
which  bears  the  following  words : — '  To  the  memory  of  George 
Romney,  Esquire,  the  celebrated  painter,  who  died  at  Kendal  the  15th 
of  November  1802,  and  was  interred  at  Dalton,  the  place  of  his  birth. 
So  long  as  genius  and  talent  shall  be  respected,  his  name  will  live.' 

His  grave  at  Dalton  was  marked  only  by  a  stone,  which  was 
replaced  by  his  eldest  great-grandson,  Mr.  J.  O.  Romney,  in  1895,  by  a 
new  one  made  of  limestone  from  the  neighbouring  village  of  Stainton, 
upon  which  is  inscribed  : — 

'GEORGIUS  ROMNEY,  ARMIGER, 
PICTOR  CELEBERRIMUS, 
OBIIT  15TH  NOVEMBER  1802.' 

His  wife,  who  survived  him  for  twenty-one  years,  lived  to  the  great 
age  of  ninety-six,  and  was  buried  in  the  churchyard  at  Rusland,  near 
Whitestock.  During  the  latter  years  of  her  life  she  resided  at  White 
stock  Cottage,  an  older  building  than  Whitestock  Hall,  where  she  died 
on  April  20th,  1823.  An  old  family  servant,  who  was  nurse  to  both 
John  Romney 's  children  and  grandchildren,  and  who  died  not  many 
years  ago,  retained  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  old  lady  during  her  last 
years,  and  used  to  say  that  her  temper  was  bad. 

John  Romney,  the  artist's  only  son,  was  born  at  Kendal  on  April 
6th,  1757,  and  lived  there  with  his  mother  for  the  first  six  years  of  his 
life.  He  was  educated  at  Manchester  Grammar  School,  and  afterwards 
at  Cambridge.  He  took  holy  orders  in  1782,  and  became  a  Fellow  of 
St.  John's  three  years  later.  Shortly  after  his  father's  death  he  filled 
curacies  in  Norfolk,  but  settled  at  Whitestock  Hall  in  1806,  in  which 
year  the  house  was  finished.  The  title-deeds  of  the  estate  are  in  the 
name  of  the  artist,  but  the  building  was  carried  out  by  the  son,  who 
was  his  own  architect.    An  illustration  of  it  was  given  in  Black  and 

1  See  page  326. 

227 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


White  for  June  2nd,  1894,  which  shows  it  to  be  a  mansion  of  con- 
siderable size.  In  the  same  year,  1806,  he  married  Miss  Jane  Kennall, 
of  Kendal,  a  distant  cousin,  who  died  in  1862.  He  remained  in  the 
north  until  his  death  on  February  6th,  1832,  and  left  a  family  of  two 
sons  and  three  daughters.  Until  some  thirty-five  years  ago  the  family 
possessed  a  certain  amount  of  property  in  the  neighbourhood,  most 
of  which,  if  not  all,  had  belonged  to  the  Rev.  John  Romney,  part 
of  it  inherited  from  his  father,  and  part  purchased  by  himself.  This 
was  sold  by  his  son  when  Barrow  grew  into  a  busy  manufacturing 
town.  John  Romney  was  buried  at  Rusland,  near  his  mother,  two  of 
his  daughters  and  his  son  John.  The  latter  also  entered  the  church, 
though,  according  to  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  he  had  more  renown 
locally  as  a  sportsman  than  a  divine. 

The  Rev.  John  Romney's  eldest  daughter,  Mary,  became  Mrs. 
Rawlinson,  of  Graythwaite,  near  Lake  Side,  Windermere,  about  three 
miles  from  Whitestock.  George  Romney  painted  several  members  of 
the  Rawlinson  family  at  Lancaster.  Three  of  these  are  now  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Walker,  of  Bretargh  Holt,  near  Kendal,  and  two 
of  them  are  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower's  book. 
These  are  fine  examples  of  his  early  work,  and  represent  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
T.  H.  Rawlinson,  of  Lancaster.1  Another  good  picture  of  his  pre- 
Italian  days  is  the  group  of 'Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lindow,' in  the  National 
Gallery,  the  lady  being  their  niece,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Abram  Rawlinson. 

John  Romney's  son  succeeded  to  Whitestock  in  1832.  and  his 
grandson  in  1875.  After  some  years  the  latter  became  involved  in 
monetary  difficulties,  and  his  two  surviving  aunts,  Miss  Elizabeth 
Romney,  and  Mrs.  Brooks,  took  over  Whitestock  Hall  from  him, 
moving  there  from  Coniston.  The  house  was  full  of  pictures,  sketches, 
engravings,  and  other  memorials  of  the  painter,  which  the  Rev.  John 
Romney  had  inherited  from  his  father.  In  addition  to  these,  Miss 
Romney  brought  with  her  from  Coniston  a  few  good  Romney  pictures, 
which  she  had  bought  from  time  to  time.  Mrs.  Brooks  died  in  1889, 
and  Miss  Romney  in  1893.  On  the  24th  and  25th  of  May,  in  the 
following  year,  her  collection  was  sold  by  Messrs.  Christie,  Manson 
and  Woods.  The  statement  that  she  inherited  it  from  her  father  is 
incorrect. 

The  sale  attracted  much  attention,  for  the  catalogue  contained 
many  interesting  pictures,  drawings,  sketches,  and  engravings,  with 
a  number  of  autograph  letters  to  and  from  the  painter,  many  of  his 

1  See  page  284. 

228 


ROMNEY  SALE,  1894 


sketch-books,  and  an  almost  complete  set  of  the  pocket-books  in  which 
he  kept  a  list  of  his  professional  engagements.  Among  the  pictures 
were  some  of  his  earliest  works,  such  as  the  '  King  Lear  in  the  Storm,' 
painted  in  1760,  and  exhibited  three  years  later  at  the  Free  Society 
of  Artists,  which  was  knocked  down  for  a  guinea;  the  'Memory  of 
Windermere'  (22  guineas)  ;  his  two  studies,  made  in  Rome,  of  a  dwarf 
and  a  bravo  (5^  guineas);  a  portrait  of  James  Romney,  holding  a  candle 
between  his  hand  and  face  (21  guineas)  ;  a  crayon  portrait  of  his  son 
(6tt  guineas) ;  a  small  oval  portrait  of  his  brother  James,  in  water- 
colours  (23  guineas) ;  portraits  of  James  and  Peter  Romney,  exhibited 
under  the  title  of  '  A  Conversation '  at  the  Free  Society  of  Artists  in 
1766  (70  guineas) ;  and  an  early  portrait  of  his  wife  (32  guineas). 

There  were  also  a  number  of  pictures  representing  his  powers  at 
their  maturity,  some  of  which  have  been  already  described,  such  as 
'  Titania,  Puck,  and  the  Changeling,  on  the  Sea-shore,'  painted  about 
1793,  which  was  bought  for  205  guineas  for  the  National  Gallery  of 
Ireland ;  and  the  well-known  '  Portrait  of  the  Artist,'  painted  at 
Eartham  in  1782,  which  was  secured  for  420  guineas  for  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery.  A  version  of  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Bacchante, 
leading  a  goat,'  said  in  the  catalogue  to  have  been  painted  probably 
about  1792,  fetched  300  guineas,  and  one  of  the  two  pictures  of  her  in 
the  same  character,  dancing  on  a  heath,  of  about  the  same  date,  a  nearly 
full  length  life-size  figure,  600  guineas.  This  was  the  picture  exhibited 
at  the  Liverpool  Arts  Club  in  1881.  'Mrs.  Tickell  (Miss  Ley)'  from 
the  1807  sale,  brought  1150  guineas;  'Mrs.  Billington  as  St.  Cecilia,' 
seated  by  a  piano,  in  a  white  dress,  painted  in  1787,  also  exhibited  at 
Liverpool  in  1881,  900  guineas — it  was  included  in  John  Romney 's 
sale  in  1834,  and  repurchased  by  Miss  Romney  in  1875  ;  '  Mrs.  Inchbald,' 
in  white  dress  and  cap,  blue  sash  and  powdered  hair,  now  belonging  to 
Sir  Edward  Tennant,  950  guineas  ;  and  '  Master  John  Thomas  Paine,' 
with  a  Pomeranian  dog,  signed  and  dated  1776,  and  engraved  by 
J.  Dean,  800  guineas.  Several  canvases  of  less  importance,  such  as  the 
'  Mrs.  Crouch,'  and  '  Joan  of  Arc,'  had  been  acquired  by  Miss  Romney 
from  the  collection  of  J.  H.  Anderdon.  Other  portraits  of  the  artist 
himself  were  included  in  the  sale,  one  in  which  he  is  wearing  a  black 
coat  and  his  hair  in  powder,  at  about  the  age  of  thirty-five,  and  another, 
painted  about  1795,  when  an  old  man  ;  also  '  Colonel  James  Romney,' 
in  uniform,  which  is  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower's 
book,  and  the  portrait  of  the  '  Rev.  John  Romney,'  painted  in  two 
sittings  in  1794. 

229 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


One  of  the  most  interesting  lots  was  No.  197,  a  screen  of  five 
panels,  each  about  six  feet  by  two  feet,  with  the  title,  '  The  Singers  go 
before,  the  Minstrels  follow  after  ;  in  the  midst  are  the  Damsels  playing 
with  Timbrels.'  The  figures  are  about  three  feet  high,  and  are  set  in 
a  landscape  background  in  which  the  sky  predominates.  One  of  the 
panels  was  painted  by  John  Romney,  and  the  others  are  probably 
more  or  less  the  work  of  pupils  from  Romney 's  designs. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  give  here  a  brief  account  of  the  earlier 
Romney  sales.  On  May  22nd  and  23rd,  1805,  the  '  Intire  and 
Genuine  collection  of  Prints,  Books  of  Prints,  and  Drawings  of  George 
Romney,  Esq.,  Historical  and  Portrait  Painter,  deceased,'  was  sold  by 
'  Mr.  T.  Philipe,  at  his  Rooms,  Warwick  Street,  Golden  Square,  ad- 
joining the  Chapel.'  This  was  the  collection  formed  by  the  artist  of 
several  thousands  of  prints,  etchings,  and  drawings  of  the  Italian,  Dutch, 
Flemish,  French,  and  other  Schools,  but  containing  no  original  works 
of  his  own. 

The  first  sale  of  his  pictures,  held  in  1807,  must  have  been  very 
disappointing  to  the  Rev.  John  Romney,  as  the  greater  number  of  the 
canvases  fetched  such  ridiculously  small  sums  that  they  may  be  said 
to  have  been  given  away.  It  is  true  that  most  of  them  were  unfinished 
portraits,  and  studies  and  cartoons  for  historical  works  carried  but  a 
little  way  towards  completion,  but  even  then  it  is  astonishing  that  they 
should  have  been  knocked  down  in  some  cases  for  a  few  shillings,  in 
others  for  merely  a  pound  or  two.  The  purchasers,  in  many  instances, 
were  fellow-artists,  such  as  John  Hoppner  and  Tresham.  The  title- 
page  of  the  sale-catalogue  was  as  follows  : — '  A  |  Catalogue  |  of  |  The 
Select  and  Reserved  Collection  |  of  |  Paintings  |  of  |  That  eminent 
and  very  celebrated  artist,  [  George  Romney  Esq.  RA.  |  Deceased  :| 
consisting  of  |  The  most  admired  Productions  of  his  Pencil  |  parti- 
cularly |  His  large  Copy  from  the  Transfiguration  of  |  Raffaelle ; 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  making  Experiments  |  on  the  Prism;  King  Lear; 
the  Dying  |  Damsel,  in  the  Ballad,  'I'was  when  the  Seas  \  were  roaring  ; 
Miss  Wallis  as  Mirth  and  |  Melancholy ;  and  many  other  Fancy 
Pieces,  |  and  Portraits  of  celebrated  Characters.  |  which  |  will  be  sold 
by  Auction  |  By  Mr.  Christie  |  At  His  Great  Room,  Pall  Mall  |  On 
Monday,  April  27,  1807,  |  At  Twelve  O'Clock.'  The  <  R.  A.'  was,  of 
course,  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  auctioneer. 

The  first  thirty-three  lots  consisted,  with  one  exception,  of  portraits, 
230 


ROMNEY  SALE,  1807 


all  of  which,  judging  by  the  prices  they  produced,  must  have  been 
mere  beginnings  or  canvases  put  aside  by  the  painter  as  unsatisfactory. 
For  instance,  a  portrait  of  Lady  Holte,  evidently  a  discarded  study  for 
the  fine  portrait  in  the  Birmingham  Art  Gallery,  was  purchased  for 
five  shillings,  and  one  of  'Mr.  Tickel  the  Poet'  for  seven  shillings, 
while  the  'Portraits  of  a  Barrister  and  one  other  unknown,"  went  for 
eight  shillings  for  the  two,  and  a  '  Portrait  of  Perdita  (Mrs.  Robinson)  ' 
was  knocked  down  for  sixteen  shillings.  This  last  was  not  the  beautiful 
canvas  now  in  the  Wallace  Collection ;  the  latter  was  No.  72  in  the 
sale,  and  was  bought  in  for  John  Romney  by  Saunders,  Romney  s 
frame  maker,  for  nineteen  guineas.  Slightly  better  prices  were 
obtained  for  'Mrs.  Siddons '  (£4,  6s.);.  'Children — painted  for  the  late 
Countess  of  Derby'  (£3,  15s.);  'Lady  Hamilton'  (£10,  10s.);  'Miss 
Pitt — very  spirited'  (£5,  10s.)  and  'Dr.  Markham,  the  present  Arch- 
bishop of  York — notwithstanding  the  great  merit  which  this  Portrait 
possesses,  Mr.  Romney  desirous  of  rendering  justice  to  this  venerable 
Character,  undertook  a  second  Picture,  upon  which  he  bestowed  still 
greater  care  ;  and  it  was  deemed  the  finest  of  his  works  '(£4,  14s.  6d.). 

Lots  34  to  52  were  small  studies  for  '  Fancy  Subjects  '  and  Cartoons, 
a  number  of  which  were  studies  for  '  The  Tempest '  picture,  and  several 
for  the  '  Birth  of  Shakespeare.'  These  fetched  prices  ranging  from  five 
shillings  to  £5,  10s.,  the  latter  sum  being  given  for  No.  36,  'A  boy, 
seated,  Study  for  the  education  of  Shakespeare.'  Among  them  was 
the  large  '  Jupiter  Pluvius,'  so  christened  by  John  Romney  (see  page 
70),  which  only  realised  twelve  shillings. 

Lot  53  was  the  large  study,  made  in  Rome  with  so  much  care  and 
trouble,  of  the  lower  half  of  Raphael's  '  Transfiguration,'  which  was 
given  away  at  six  guineas  ;  and  four  oil  sketches  after  '  The  Passion  of 
Christ,'  by  Baroccio  only  obtained  a  bid  of  £4,  6s.  Lots  55  to  72  were 
portraits,  many  of  them  full  lengths,  several  of  which  went  for  sums 
of  five  shillings  or  half  a  guinea.  A  whole  length  of  Mrs.  Forster,  as 
Circe,  was  bought  in  at  £l,  10s.,  while  a  more  finished  example  of  the 
same  subject  went  for  £3,  3s.  '  Mrs.  Tickel '  brought  £4,  4s.,  and  the 
head  of  a  '  Lady  as  Euphrosyne,'  £5,  5s.  Better  prices  were  given  for 
a  whole-length  of  Lady  Hamilton  as  Cassandra  (£8,  8s.)  and  for  '  Mrs. 
Smith  Sewing'  (£15,  15s.). 

Further  Fancy  and  Historical  subjects  followed,  a  few  by  other 
artists,  the  prices  ranging  from  eleven  shillings  for  a  '  Head  of  St.  Peter,' 
by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  to  £6,  16s.  6d.  for  'A  Pieta  by  Caravaggio, 
original  and  fine.'    Among  them  were  the  'Five  Leaves  of  a  Screen, 

231 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Dancing  Nymphs'  (£5,  5s.),  which  has  been  mentioned  already  in 
connection  with  Miss  Romney's  sale  in  1894. 

The  more  finished  works  were  reserved  for  the  end  of  the  catalogue. 
The  '  Portrait  of  Lady  Hamilton  as  Circe,  whole  length,  very  elegant,' 
was  knocked  down  to  Mr.  Long  for  £15,  4s.  6d.  Others  which  may 
be  singled  out  were  '  A  Group  of  Children  in  a  Boat  Drifting  out  to 
Sea,  their  Nurse  on  the  Beach  in  Distress,  an  Interesting  Sketch  ' 
(£4,  14s.  6d) ;  '  A  fine  Study  for  the  Titania,  Changeling  and  Puck, 
richly  coloured'  (£12,  12s.);  '  Titania  Reposing,  unfinished,  an  elegant 
and  poetical  Study'  (£12,  12s.);  'Lady  Hamilton  as  the  Pythian 
Priestess,  seated  on  the  Tripod,  an  elegant  Study'  (£13,  13s.); 
'  Portrait  of  Mrs.  Crouch,  a  highly  finished  and  pleasing  picture ' 
(£5,  15s.  6d.) ;  and  a  '  Whole  length  finished  Portrait  of  Lady  Hamilton 
as  Iphigenia  with  a  Yellow  Veil '  (£12,  Is.  6d.). 

Most  of  the  best  things  were  bought  in  by  the  painter's  son. 
Among  these  were  '  A  Bacchante'  (£21,  10s.  6d.),  evidently  the  picture 
of '  Lady  Hamilton  leading  a  Goat'  (see  pages  114  and  313)  ;  '  Titania 
concealing  herself,  a  Sketch'  (£12,  Is.  6d.) ;  'Penitence,  an  elegant 
and  high  finished  Picture'  (£38,  17s.),  and  'Absence,  the  Companion' 
(£47,  5s.);  'Portrait  of  Mrs.  Billington '  (£8,  18s.  6d.) ;  'The  much 
admired  picture — "  Mirth  and  Melancholy  "  the  Portraits,  from  Miss 
Wallis,  exhibit  the  same  countenance  with  a  different  expression. 
They  were  designed  to  shew  the  equal  degree  of  excellence  of  that  late 
accomplished  Actress  in  either  walk  of  the  Drama.  In  the  distance 
is  a  richly  coloured  landscape'  (£52,  10s.);1  'Ophelia,  leaning  over 
Water,  supported  upon  the  Branch  of  a  Tree  ;  Ruined  Buildings  and 
Romantic  Scenery  in  the  Back  Ground'  (£18,  18s.);  'The  Heath 
Scene,  with  Gloster,  Kent,  Edgar,  Lear,  and  Fool,  from  Shakespear's 
King  Lear,  very  spirited  '  (£37, 16s.)  :  '  A  Subject  from  the  well-known 
Ballad — "  'Twas  when  the  seas  were  Roaring  " — a  despondent  Female 
seated  upon  a  Rock,  overpowered  with  Grief ;  a  Gleam  of  Light  is 
thrown  upon  the  Breast  and  Arms  of  the  Female  with  richest  effect ' 
(£30,  9s.) — several  studies  for  this  picture  of  varying  size,  called 
'  Solitude,'  were  included  in  the  sale ;  and  '  Sir  Isaac  Newton  contem- 
plating the  Phaenomenon  of  the  refraction  of  Rays  by  the  Prism. 
The  Painter  has  treated  the  Subject  as  a  Scene  from  Real  Domestic 
Life ;  and  has  introduced  a  Female  bringing  a  Caraff  of  Water,  and 
another  expressing  her  Ignorant  Delight  at  the  effect  produced ;  the 
Subject  is  treated  with  Ability  and  Science ;  the  Colouring  rich  and 

1  See  pages  155  and  204. 

232 


ROMNEY  SALE,  1834 


harmonious '  (£42).  The  last  lot  was  No.  119, '  Titania,  the  Changeling 
and  Puck  on  a  Sea  Shore,  unfinished ;  a  surprising  Picture  of  Poetical 
Sportive  Invention,  treated  with  Corregiesque  taste  and  magic  effect, 
one  of  the  happiest  efforts  of  the  Artist '  (£68,  5s.).  This  is  the  picture 
now  in  the  National  Gallery  of  Ireland ;  a  slighter  study,  mentioned 
above,  was  included  in  the  sale. 

This  sale  was  far  from  a  monetary  success.  John  Romney  bought 
in  pictures  to  the  value  of  £406,  19s.  6d.,  while  the  total  amount 
realised  by  those  canvases  actually  sold  was  £307,  Is.,  which  when 
commissions  and  duty  had  been  deducted,  was  reduced  to  £250,  16s. 

The  sale  on  May  9th  and  10th,  1834,  after  John  Romney 's  death, 
by  Messrs.  Christie,  Manson  and  Christie,  was  announced  as  '  The 
Collection  of  Pictures  reserved  after  the  death  of  that  Celebrated  and 
elegant  Painter,  Romney,  as  some  of  the  most  capital  of  his  pro- 
ductions, by  his  son,  the  Rev.  John  Romney,  deceased,  in  pursuance 
of  whose  Will  they  are  now  sold.'  The  pictures  were  sold  on  the 
second  day,  Lots  72  to  92,  and  as  they  consisted  almost  entirely  of 
those  bought  in  in  1807  there  is  no  need  to  recapitulate  them.  Among 
them  were  a  few  of  his  Roman  life-studies,  which  reappeared  in  Miss 
Romney  s  sale  in  1894.  These,  Avith  several  of  the  more  important 
works,  such  as  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Bacchante,'  '  King  Lear,'  and  the 
portrait  of  Mrs.  Billington,  were  again  bought  in.  The  '  Mirth  and 
Melancholy '  was  purchased  by  Lord  Egremont,  and  is  now  at  Pet- 
worth.  The  earlier  lots,  Nos.  39  to  71,  consisted  of  a  collection  of 
'  Old  Masters,'  formed  by  the  painter  and  considerably  added  to  by  his 
son.  They  included  '  Rembrandt's  portrait  of  Himself,  which  belonged 
for  many  years  to  Sir  Joshua,'  which  figured  in  the  1807  Sale  as  '  Head 
of  St.  Peter,  Sir  Joshua.'  Other  names  included  in  the  list  were 
Raphael,  Titian,  Paul  Veronese,  Rubens,  Poussin,  Murillo,  and  Van 
Dyck,  but  in  all  probability  the  greater  number  of  the  works  attributed 
to  them  were  merely  school-pieces. 


233 


XIX 


A SHORT  and  very  inadequate  biographical  sketch  of  Romney's 
caVeer,  containing  more  than  one  serious  mistake,  was  published 
in  the  supplement  to  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine  for  December 
1802.  This  was  followed,  in  June  1803,  by  a  longer  and  much  more 
adequate  account  of  the  artist,  from  the  pen  of  Richard  Cumberland, 
which  filled  seven  pages  of  Tlie  Euro'pean  Magazine.  This  again  was 
by  no  means  free  from  inaccuracies,  but  it  was  the  first  attempt  made 
to  do  anything  like  justice  to  Romney's  genius  or  to  appreciate  the 
real  character  of  the  man.  In  the  latter  respect  it  gave  offence  to 
both  Hayley  and  John  Romney,  though,  as  a  whole,  it  was  a  fair  and 
just  estimate  of  Romney's  character,  if  not  of  his  art. 

It  was  well  known  in  literary  and  artistic  circles  that  Hayley 
intended  to  publish  a  life  of  his  friend,  and  it  is  at  Hayley  that 
Cumberland  aims  in  his  opening  sentences.  '  Although  the  works  of 
Mr.  George  Romney  will  continue  to  bear  testimony  to  his  excellence 
in  Art  as  long  as  their  canvasses  and  colours  shall  endure,'  he  begins, 
'  yet  it  does  not  seem  right  that  he  should  descend  to  the  grave  with 
no  other  memorials  of  his  fame,  whilst  there  are  friends  still  surviving, 
who  have  something  to  relate  of  him  in  a  language  which  those 
existing  samples  of  his  genius  cannot  speak.  He  was  a  man  too 
great  to  be  consigned  to  oblivion  ;  but  the  task  of  doing  justice  to 
his  abilities  is  not  a  light  one.  Some,  who  were  numbered  amongst 
his  intimates,  are  fully  able  to  perform  it ;  and  no  one,  who  was  happy 
in  his  friendship,  more  truly  laments  their  indolence  than  the  writer  of 
these  memoirs,  who,  without  their  powers,  and  possibly  without  their 
leisure,  submits  to  the  call  of  those  who  have  pressed  the  undertaking 
upon  him,1  and  will  too  probably,  in  the  result,  discover,  that  they 
have  been  the  projectors  of  their  own  disappointment.' 

As  barely  six  months  had  elapsed  since  Romney's  death,  this  was 
a  little  unfair  to  Hayley.    The  latter,  however,  was  singularly  tardy  in 

1  In  his  Memoirs  Cumberland  states  that  he  only  undertook  it  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of 
Thomas  Greene,  William  Long,  and  Daniel  Braithwaite. 

234 


PLATE  XLVll 


LADY  HAMILTON  AS  "A  CHILD " 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OK  MR.  TANKER VI LLE  CHAMBERLAVNE 

Page  318 


PLATE  XLV/ii 


ELIZABETH,  LADY  FORBES 

IN   THE  COLLECTION    OF  SIR  DUNCAN  HAY,  BT. 

Page  319 


BLAKE  AND  ROMNEY 


beginning  his  self-appointed  task,  for  which  he  had  been  collecting 
materials  for  years.  He  allowed  a  year  to  elapse  before  he  made  a 
beginning,  as  he  tells  us  in  his  own  Memoirs,  though  in  his  preface 
to  the  Life  itself,  he  states  that  the  introduction  and  a  considerable 
part  of  the  book  were  written  in  1803. 

Throughout  1804  he  was  so  absorbed  in  his  Life  of  Cowper,  that 
all  other  work  was  put  on  one  side,  though  Colonel  James  Romney 
paid  him  a  visit,  and  promised  him  his  assistance ;  but  the  death  of 
the  latter  deprived  him  of  this  valuable  source  of  information.  He 
also  enlisted  the  services  of  William  Blake  in  the  collecting  of 
materials  for  the  book  from  Romney 's  old  friends.  Blake  thought 
very  highly  of  Romney  as  an  imaginative  painter,  while  Flaxman, 
Fuseli,  and  Romney  himself  were  all  admirers  of  Blake's  designs,  so 
that  Hayley's  choice  of  a  helper  was  a  wise  one. 

Mr.  Archibald  Russell,  in  his  recently  published  Letters  of  William 
Blake,1  says :  '  It  will  appear  from  many  of  Blake's  letters  that  the 
admiration  evinced  by  Romney  was  fully  reciprocated,  especially  in 
the  case  of  the  various  historical  studies  and  cartoons  which  were 
undertaken  by  the  latter  at  this  period.  These  have  even  left  a 
visible  mark  upon  Blake's  style.  An  India-ink  drawing  done  about 
the  date  of  this  meeting,  entitled  "Har  and  Heva  bathing:  Mnetha 
looking  on,"  (one  of  a  set  of  twelve  illustrations  to  his  own  poem 
Tiriel),  is  a  good  example  of  the  Romney  influence,  which  is  clearly 
distinguishable  in  the  curves  of  the  figures,  in  the  breadth  of  the  light 
effects,  and  in  the  character  of  the  forest  background  ;  and  from  the 
designs  of  the  latter  from  "Shakespeare"  and  "Milton"  it  is  sufficiently 
clear  that  the  gain  was  not  on  Blake's  side  alone.  I  have  even 
identified  a  sketch  by  Romney  from  Paradise  Lost  having  Blake's 
signature  forged  upon  it.' 

A  number  of  interesting  letters  which  Blake  addressed  to  the  poet 
with  reference  to  the  illustrations  for  the  book  are  printed  in  Alex- 
ander Gilchrist's  Life  of  William  Blake,  and  also  by  Mr.  Russell. 
These,  in  their  turn,  show  how  high  an  admiration  Blake  had  for  the 
older  painter,  and  as  they  refer  to  many  of  Romney 's  designs,  some 
extracts  from  them  may  be  given  here.  Blake  wrote  to  Hayley  on 
October  26th,  1803 : — '  I  have  been  with  Mr.  Sanders,2  who  has 
now  in  his  possession  all  Mr.  Romney 's  pictures  that  remained  after 

1  The  Letters  of  William  Blake,  together  with  His  Life  by  F.  Tatham,  edited  by  A.  G.  B.  Russell, 
1906. 

2  Romney 's  framemaker. 

235 


GEORGE   ROM  NEY 


the  sale  at  Hampstead ;  I  saw  "  Milton  and  his  Daughters,"'  and 
"  'Twas  where  the  Seas  were  Roaring,"  and  a  beautiful  Female  Head. 
He  has  promised  to  write  a  list  of  all  that  he  has  in  his  possession, 
and  of  all  that  he  remembers  of  Mr.  Romney's  paintings,  with 
notices  where  they  now  are,  as  far  as  his  recollection  will  serve. 
The  picture  of  "  Christ  in  the  Desert "  he  supposes  to  be  one  of  those 
which  he  has  rolled  on  large  rollers.  He  will  take  them  down  and 
unroll  them,  but  cannot  do  it  easily,  as  they  are  so  large  as  to  occupy 
the  whole  length  of  his  workshop,  and  are  laid  across  beams  at  the 
top.  Mr.  "Flaxman  is  now  out  of  town.  When  he  returns  I  will  lose 
no  time  in  setting  him  to  work  on  the  same  object.  ...  I  go  on 
finishing  Romney  with  spirit.'  Blake  was  then  at  work  upon  an 
engraving  of  a  portrait  of  the  artist  as  an  illustration  to  the  book,  but 
for  some  reason  it  was  never  used. 

Next  comes  a  letter  from  Flaxrnan  to  Hayley,  written  on 
January  2nd,  1804  : — '  I  wonder,  my  good  friend,  as  you  admired  the 
genius  of  Romney  so  much,  that  you  do  not  remember  the  whole 
catalogue  of  his  chalk  cartoons ;  as  I  think  it  was  your  opinion,  in 
common  with  other  sufficient  judges,  that  they  were  the  noblest  of  his 
studies.  Besides,  they  were  but  few  in  number.  The  following  were 
the  subjects  :  "  A  Lapland  Witch  raising  a  Storm,"  "  Charity  and  her 
Children,"  "  Pliny  and  his  Mother  flying  from  the  Eruption  of 
Vesuvius  " ;  the  following  from  Aeschylus :  "  Raising  the  Ghost  of 
Darius,"  "Atossa's  Dream";  "The  Furies."  I  hope  they  exist  in  a 
perfect  state ;  and  if  they  do,  they  are  all  well  worth  etching  in  a  bold 
manner,  which  I  think  Blake  is  likely  to  do  with  great  success,  and 
perhaps  at  an  expense  which  will  not  be  burthensome.  But,  at  any 
rate,  give  him  one  to  do  first  for  a  trial.  The  exhibition  of  a  painter's 
noblest  sentiments  and  grandest  thoughts  must  certainly  become  as 
striking  and  interesting  in  his  life  as  their  several  poems  in  the  lives 
of  Milton,  Homer,  or  Virgil.  I  am  glad  you  are  satisfied  with  the 
introduction ;  in  this  you  have  had  the  success  of  a  friend  both 
zealous  and  skilful.  I  confess,  great  as  my  regard  was  for  the  man, 
to  write  his  life  and  speak  the  truth  without  offence  seems  attended 
with  considerable  difficulty.  I  am  not  at  all  surprised  that  many 
passages  in  this  eminent  man's  letters  were  truly  eloquent  and 
beautiful.  Indeed  I  should  have  been  confounded  had  they  not  been 
so;  because  whatever  advantages  education  can  bestow,  they  are  but  so 
many  modifications  of  the  light  of  the  understanding  and  the  feelings 
and  affections  of  the  heart.  I  am  sure  Romney's  memory  will  want  no 
236 


LETTERS   FROM  BLAKE 


grace  or  decoration  which  your  pen  cannot  give,  and  therefore  any 
effort  of  mine  would  be  comparatively  poor  and  tedious,  like  "the 
shuffling  gait  of  a  tired  nag."  Yet  I  am  not  so  churlish  that  I  would 
not  lend  an  endeavour,  however  weak,  to  honour  a  departed  friend ; 
but  even  this  must  be  independent,  and  not  comparative.  I  do  not 
remember  Mr.  Robinson,  but  I  rejoice  in  his  success  and  the  inspira- 
tion of  his  son.' 

Further  letters  from  Blake  show  that  he  was  anxious  to  do  every- 
thing in  his  power  to  help  forward  the  work.  He  wrote  on  January 
27th,  1804  : — 4  I  am  now  so  well,  thank  God,  as  to  get  out,  and  have 
accordingly  been  to  Mr.  Walker,  who  is  not  in  town,  being  at 
Birmingham,  where  he  will  remain  six  weeks  or  two  months.  I  took 
my  portrait  of  Romney  as  you  desired,  to  show  him.  His  son  was 
likewise  not  at  home,  but  I  will  again  call  on  Mr.  Walker,  Jun.,  and 
beg  him  to  show  me  the  pictures  and  make  every  inquiry  of  him,  if 
you  think  best.  Mr.  Sanders  has  one  or  two  large  cartoons.  The 
subject  he  does  not  know.  They  are  folded  up  on  the  top  of 
his  workshop  :  the  rest  he  packed  up  and  sent  into  the  north.  I 
showed  your  letter  to  Mr.  John  Romney  to  Mr.  Flaxman,  who  was 
perfectly  satisfied  with  it.  I  sealed  and  sent  it  immediately,  as  directed 
by  Mr.  Sanders,  to  Kendall,  Westmoreland.  Mr.  Sanders  expects 
Mr.  Romney  in  town  soon.  .  .  .  Mr.  Flaxman  is  not  at  all  aquainted 
with  Sir  Alan  Chambre ;  recommends  me  to  inquire  concerning  him 
of  Mr.  Rose.  My  brother  says  he  believes  Sir  Alan  is  a  Master  in 
Chancery.  Tho'  I  have  called  on  Mr.  Edwards  twice  for  Lady 
Hamilton's  direction,  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  find  him  out  both 
times  ;  I  will  repeat  my  call  on  him  to-morrow  morning.' 

'  February  23rd,  1804. — I  called  yesterday  on  Mr.  Braithwaite,  as 
you  desired,  and  found  him  quite  as  cheerful  as  you  describe  him, 
and  by  his  appearance  should  not  have  supposed  him  to  be  near  sixty, 
notwithstanding  he  was  shaded  by  a  green  shade  over  his  eyes. 
He  gives  a  very  spirited  assurance  of  Mr.  John  Romney 's  interesting 
himself  in  the  great  object  of  his  father's  fame,  and  thinks  that  he  must 
be  proud  of  such  a  work  in  such  hands.  As  to  the  picture  from 
Sterne,  which  you  desired  him  to  procure  for  you,  he  has  not  yet  found 
where  it  is  ;  supposes  that  it  may  be  in  the  north,  and  that  he  may 
learn  from  Mr.  Romney,  who  will  be  in  town  soon.  Mr.  B.  desires 
I  will  present  his  compliments  to  you,  and  write  you  that  he  has 
spoken  with  Mr.  Read  concerning  the  Life  of  Romney.  He  interests 
himself  in  it,  and  has  promis'd  to  procure  dates  of  premiums,  pictures, 

237 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


etc.,  Mr.  Read  having  a  number  of  articles  relating  to  Romney,  either 
written  or  printed,  which  he  promises  to  copy  out  for  your  use,  as 
also  the  Catalogue  of  Hampstead  sale.  He  showed  me  a  very  fine 
portrait  of  Mrs.  Siddons,  by  Romney,  as  the  Tragic  Muse ;  half 
length,  that  is,  the  head  and  hands,  and  in  his  best  style.  He  also 
desires  me  to  express  to  you  his  wish  that  you  would  give  the  public  an 
engraving  of  that  medallion  by  your  son's  matchless  hand,  which  is 
placed  over  his  chimney-piece.  .  .  .  He  says  that  it  is  by  far,  in  his 
opinion,  the  most  exact  resemblance  of  Romney  he  ever  saw.  I  have, 
furthermore,  the  pleasure  of  informing  you  that  he  knew  immediately 
my  portrait  of  Romney,  and  assured  me  that  he  thought  it  a  very 
great  likeness.  .  .  .  Neither  Mr.  Flaxman  nor  Mr.  Edwards  know 
Lady  Hamilton's  address.  The  house  which  Sir  William  lived  in, 
in  Piccadilly,  she  left  some  time  ago.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Flaxman  and  her 
sister  give  also  their  testimony  to  my  likeness  of  Romney.' 

'  April  2nd,  1804. — Mr.  Flaxman  advises  that  the  drawing  of  Mr. 
Romney 's  which  shall  be  chosen  instead  of  "  The  Witch  "  (if  that  cannot 
be  recovered),  be  "  Hecate,"  the  figure  with  the  torch  and  snake,  which 
he  thinks  one  of  the  finest  drawings.  ...  I  have  now  cleared  the  way 
to  Romney,  in  whose  service  I  now  enter  again  with  great  pleasure, 
and  hope  soon  to  show  you  my  zeal  with  good  effect.' 

'April  27th,  1804. — -Engraving  is  of  so  slow  process,  I  must  beg  of 
you  to  give  me  the  earliest  possible  notice  of  what  engraving  is  to  be  done 
for  the  Life  of  Romney.  Endless  work  is  the  true  title  of  engraving, 
as  I  find  by  the  things  I  have  in  hand  day  and  night.' 

'May  Mh,  1804. — I  have  seen  the  elder  Mr.  Walker.  He  knew  and 
admired  without  any  preface  my  print  of  Romney,  and  when  his 
daughter  came  in  he  gave  the  print  into  her  hand  without  a  word,  and 
she  immediately  said,  "  Ah  !  Romney  !  younger  than  I  knew  him,  but 
very  like  indeed."  Mr.  Walker  showed  me  Romney  s  first  attempt  at 
oil  painting  ;  it  is  a  copy  from  a  Dutch  picture, — "  Dutch  Boor 
Smoking  "  ;  on  the  back  is  written,  "  This  was  the  first  attempt  at  oil 
painting  by  G.  Romney."  He  shewed  me  also  the  last  performance  of 
Romney.  It  is  of  Mr.  Walker  and  family,  the  draperies  put  in  by 
somebody  else.  It  is  a  very  excellent  picture,  but  unfinished.  The 
figures  as  large  as  life,  half  length ;  Mr.  W.,  three  sons,  and,  I  believe, 
two  daughters,  with  maps,  instruments,  etc.  Mr.  Walker  also  showed 
me  a  portrait  of  himself,  (W.),  whole  length,  on  a  canvas  about  two 
feet  by  one  and  a  half ;  it  is  the  first  portrait  Romney  ever  painted. 
238 


LETTERS  FROM  BLAKE 


But  above  all,  a  picture  of  "  Lear  and  Cordelia,"  when  he  awakes  and 
knows  her, — an  incomparable  production,  which  Mr.  W.  bought  for  five 
shillings  at  a  broker's  shop.  It  is  about  five  feet  by  four,  and  exquisite 
for  expression ;  indeed,  it  is  most  pathetic.  The  heads  of  Lear  and 
Cordelia  can  never  be  surpassed,  and  Kent  and  the  other  attendant  are 
admirable.  The  picture  is  very  highly  finished.  Other  things  I  saw 
of  Romney's  first  works :  two  copies,  perhaps  from  Borgognone,  of 
battles ;  and  Mr.  Walker  promises  to  collect  all  he  can  of  information 
for  you.  I  much  admired  his  mild  and  gentle  benevolent  manners  ;  it 
seems  as  if  all  Romney's  intimate  friends  are  truly  amiable  and  feeling 
like  himself. 

'  I  have  also  seen  Alderman  Boydell,  who  has  promised  to  get  the 
number  and  prices  of  all  Romney's  prints  as  you  desired.  He  has  sent 
a  catalogue  of  all  his  collection,  and  a  scheme  of  his  lottery.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Flaxman  agrees  with  me  that  somewhat  more  than  outline  is  necessary 
to  the  execution  of  Romney's  designs,  because  his  merit  is  eminent  in 
the  art  of  massing  his  lights  and  shades.  I  should  propose  to  etch  them 
in  a  rapid  but  firm  manner,  somewhat,  perhaps,  as  I  did  the  "  Head  of 
Euler  ";  the  price  I  receive  for  engraving  Flaxman's  outlines  of  Homer 
is  five  guineas  each.  ...  I  mentioned  the  pictures  from  Sterne  to  Mr. 
Walker.  He  says  that  there  were  several ;  one,  a  garden  scene,  with 
Uncle  Toby  and  Obadiah  planting  in  the  garden  ;  but  that  of  "  Le 
Fevre's  Death,"  he  speaks  of  as  incomparable,  but  cannot  tell  where  it 
now  is,  as  they  were  scattered  abroad,  being  disposed  of  by  means  of  a 
raffle.  He  supposes  it  is  in  Westmoreland  ;  promises  to  make  every 
inquiry  about  it.' 

'  May  28th,  1804. — I  have  delivered  the  letter  to  Mr.  Edwards,  who 
will  give  it  immediately  to  Lady  Hamilton.  Mr.  Walker  I  have  again 
seen;  he  promises  to  collect  numerous  particulars  concerning  Romney, 
and  send  them  to  you  ;  wonders  he  has  not  had  a  line  from  you  ;  desires 
me  to  assure  you  of  his  wish  to  give  every  information  in  his  power.  Says 
that  I  shall  have  "Lear  and  Cordelia  "  to  copy  if  you  desire  it  should  be 
done.  Supposes  that  Romney  was  about  eighteen  when  he  painted  it ; 
it  is  therefore  doubly  interesting.  Mr.  Walker  is  truly  an  amiable 
man ;  spoke  of  Mr.  Greene  as  the  oldest  friend  of  Romney,  who  knew 
most  concerning  him  of  any  one ;  lamented  the  little  difference  that 
subsisted  between  you,  speaking  of  you  both  with  great  affection.  Mr. 
Flaxman  has  also  promised  to  write  all  he  knows  or  can  collect  con- 
cerning Romney,  and  send  to  you.  Mr.  Sanders  has  promised  to  write 
to  Mr.  J.  Romney  immediately,  desiring  him  to  give  us  liberty  to  copy 

239 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


any  of  his  father's  designs  that  Mr.  Flaxman  may  select  for  that 
purpose ;  doubts  not  at  all  of  Mr.  Romney's  readiness  to  send  any  of 
the  cartoons  to  London  you  desire ;  if  this  can  be  done  it  will  be  all 
that  could  be  wished.  I  spoke  to  Mr.  Flaxman  about  choosing  out 
proper  subjects  for  our  purpose ;  he  has  promised  to  do  so.  I  hope 
soon  to  send  you  Flaxman's  advice  upon  this  article.  .  .  .  P.S.  Mr. 
Walker  says  that  Mr.  Cumberland  is  right  in  his  reckonings  of 
Romney's  age.  Mr.  W.  says  Romney  was  two  years  older  than 
himself,  consequently  was  born  in  1734.  Mr.  Flaxman  told  me  that 
Mr.  Romn'ey  was  three  years  in  Italy  ;  that  he  returned  twenty-eight 
years  since.  Mr.  Humphry,  the  painter,  was  in  Italy  the  same  time 
with  Mr.  Romney.  Mr.  Romney  lodged  at  Mr.  Richter's,  Great 
Newport  Street,  before  he  went ;  took  the  house  in  Cavendish  Square 
immediately  on  his  return  ;  but  as  Flaxman  has  promised  to  put  pen 
to  paper,  you  may  expect  a  full  account  of  all  he  can  collect.  Mr. 
Sanders  does  not  know  the  time  when  Mr.  R.  took  or  left  Cavendish 
Square  house.' 

'  22?id  June,  1804. — I  have  got  the  three  sublime  designs  of  Romney 
now  in  my  lodgings,  and  find  them  all  too  grand  as  well  as  too  un- 
defined for  mere  outlines  ;  and  indeed  it  is  not  only  my  opinion  but 
that  of  Mr.  Flaxman  and  Mr.  Parker,  both  of  whom  I  have  consulted, 
that  to  give  a  true  idea  of  Romney's  genius,  nothing  less  than  some 
finished  engravings  will  do,  as  outline  entirely  omits  his  chief  beauties ; 
but  there  are  some  which  may  be  executed  in  a  slighter  manner  than 
others,  and  Mr.  Parker,  whose  eminence  as  an  engraver  makes  his 
opinion  deserve  notice,  has  advised  that  four  should  be  done  in  the 
highly  finished  manner,  and  four  in  a  less  finished';  ...  It  is  certain 
that  the  pictures  deserve  to  be  engraved  by  the  hands  of  angels,  and 
must  not  by  any  means  be  done  in  a  careless  or  too  hasty  manner. 
.  .  .  Mr.  Flaxman  advises  that  the  best  engravers  should  be  engaged 
in  the  work,  as  its  magnitude  demands  all  the  talents  that  can  be 
procured. 

'  Mr.  Flaxman  named  the  following  eight  as  proper  subjects  for 
prints : — 

i.  "  The  Vision  of  Atossa  "  from  Aeschylus. 
ii.  "  Apparition  of  Darius." 

in.  "  Black-eyed  Susan,"  a  figure  on  the  sea  shore  embracing  a  corse, 
iv.  "The  Shipwreck,"  with  the  man  on  horse-back,  and  which  I  have, 
v.  "  Hecate,"  a  very  fine  thing  indeed,  which  I  have, 
vi.  "  Pliny  "  :  very  fine,  but  very  unfinished,  which  I  have. 
240 


BLAKE'S  ENGRAVING  OF  'THE  SHIPWRECK ' 


vii.  "  Lear  and  Cordelia,"  belonging  to  Mr.  Walker. 
viii.  "  One  other  which  I  omitted  to  write  down  and  have  forgot, 
but  think  that  it  was  a  figure  with  children,  which  he  called 
"  Charity." 

'  I  write  immediately  on  receiving  the  above  information,  because  no 
time  should  be  lost  in  this  truly  interesting  business.  .  .  .  My  "  Head 
of  Romney  "  is  in  very  great  forwardness.  Parker  commends  it  highly, 
Flaxman  has  not  yet  seen  it,  but  shall  soon,  and  then  you  shall  have  a 
proof  of  it  for  your  remarks  also.  I  hope  by  this  time  Flaxman  has 
written  to  you,  and  that  you  will  soon  receive  such  documents  as  will 
enable  you  to  decide  on  what  is  to  be  done  in  our  desirable  and  arduous 
task  of  doing  justice  to  our  admired,  sublime  Romney.  I  have  not 
yet  been  able  to  meet  Mr.  Braithwaite  at  home,  but  intend  very  soon 
to  call  again,  and  (as  you  wish)  to  write  all  I  can  collect  from  him.  Be 
so  good  as  to  give  me  your  earliest  decision  on  what  would  be  safe  and 
not  too  venturesome  in  the  number  of  projected  engravings,  that  I  may 
put  it  into  a  train  to  be  properly  executed.' 

September  Wth,  1804. — '  I  hope  you  will  excuse  my  delay  in  sending 
the  books  which  I  have  had  some  time,  but  kept  them  back  till  I  could 
send  a  proof  of  "  The  Shipwreck,"  which  1  hope  will  please.  It  yet 
wants  all  its  last  and  finishing  touches,  but  I  hope  you  will  be  enabled 
by  it  to  judge  of  the  pathos  of  the  picture.  ...  I  cannot  help  suggest- 
ing an  idea  which  has  struck  me  very  forcibly,  that  the  "  Tobit  and 
Tobias  "  in  your  bedchamber  would  make  a  very  beautiful  engraving, 
done  in  the  same  manner  as  the  "  Head  of  Cowper,"  after  Lawrence  ; 
the  heads  to  be  finished,  and  the  figures  to  be  left  exactly  in  imitation 
of  the  first  strokes  of  the  painter.  The  expression  of  those  truly 
pathetic  heads  would  then  be  transmitted  to  the  public,  a  singular 
monument  of  Rotnney's  genius  in  that  slightest  branch  of  art.  I  must 
now  tell  my  wants,  and  beg  the  favour  of  some  more  of  the  needful. 
The  favour  of  ten  pounds  more  will  carry  me  through  this  plate,  and 
the  "  Head  of  Romney,"  for  which  I  am  already  paid/ 

23rd  October,  1804. — 'O  lovely  Felpham,  parent  of  immortal  friend- 
ship, to  thee  I  am  eternally  indebted  for  my  three  years'  rest  from 
perturbation  and  the  strength  I  now  enjoy.  Suddenly,  on  the 
day  after  visiting  the  Truchsellian  Gallery  of  pictures,  I  was  again 
enlightened  with  the  light  I  enjoyed  in  my  youth,  and  which  has  for 
exactly  twenty  years  been  closed  from  me  as  by  a  door  and  by  window- 
shutters.  Consequently  I  can,  with  confidence,  promise  you  ocular 
demonstration  of  my  altered  state  on  the  plates  I  am  now  engraving 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


after  Romney,  whose  spiritual  aid  has  not  a  little  conduced  to  my 
restoration  to  the  light  of  Art.' 

December  18th,  1804. — '  I  send,  with  some  confidence,  proofs  of  my 
two  plates,  having  had  the  assistance  and  approbation  of  our  good 
friend  Flaxman.  He  approves  much  (I  cannot  help  telling  you  so 
much)  of  "The  Shipwreck."  Mrs.  Flaxman,  also,  who  is  a  good 
connoisseur  in  engraving,  has  given  her  warm  approbation,  and  to  the 
plate  of  "  The  Portrait,"  though  not  yet  in  so  high  finished  a  state.  I 
am  sure  (mark  my  confidence),  with  Flaxman 's  advice,  which  he  gives 
with  all  the'warmth  of  friendship  both  to  you  and  me,  it  must  be  soon 
a  highly  finished  and  properly  finished  print ;  but  yet  I  must  solicit  for 
a  supply  of  money,  and  hope  you  will  be  convinced  that  the  labour  I 
have  used  on  the  two  plates  has  left  me  without  any  resource  but  that 
of  applying  to  you.  I  am  again  in  want  of  ten  pounds ;  hope  that  the 
size  and  neatness  of  my  plate  of  "  The  Shipwreck  "  will  plead  for  me 
the  excuse  for  troubling  you  before  it  can  be  properly  called  finished, 
though  Flaxman  has  already  pronounced  it  so.  I  beg  your  remarks 
also  on  both  my  performances,  as  in  their  present  state  they  will  be 
capable  of  very  much  improvement  from  a  few  lucky  or  well-advised 
touches.' 

28th  December,  1804. — '  The  two  cartoons  which  I  have  of  "  Hecate  " 
and  "  Pliny  "  are  very  unequal  in  point  of  finishing  :  the  "  Pliny  "  is  a 
sketch,  though  admirably  contrived  for  an  effect  equal  to  Rembrandt. 
But  the  "  Hecate  "  is  a  finished  production,  which  will  call  for  all  the 
engraver's  nicest  attention.  Indeed  it  is  more  finished  than  "  The 
Shipwreck  "  ;  it  is  everybody's  favourite  who  have  seen  it,  and  they 
regularly  prefer  it  to  "  The  Shipwreck  "  as  a  work  of  genius.  .  .  . 

' 1  am  very  far  from  showing  the  portrait  of  Romney  as  a  finished 
proof.  Be  assured  that  with  our  good  Flaxman's  good  help,  and  with 
your  remarks  on  it  in  addition,  I  hope  to  make  a  "  supernaculum." 
"  The  Shipwreck,"  also,  will  be  infinitely  better  the  next  proof.' 

Although  William  Blake  was  thus  actively  engaged  throughout 
1804  in  collecting  information  for  the  Life,  Hayley  himself  seems  to 
have  done  little  towards  it  during  this  or  the  following  year.  In 
March,  1806,  a  young  friend,  Mr.  Marsh,  of  Oriel,  visited  him,  and 
urged  him  to  finish  it.  '  This  he  was  very  eager  to  do,  but  a  variety  of 
avocations  prevented  his  immediate  advance  in  it.'  Later  in  the  year, 
Caroline  Watson,  the  engraver,  spent  some  weeks  at  Felpham  prepar- 
ing drawings  for  the  book,  which  she  afterwards  engraved  in  London. 
Hayley  finished  his  task  in  the  autumn  of  1807  in  some  haste,  lest,  as 
242 


PUBLICATION   OF   HAYLEY'S  LIFE' 


he  says  in  his  preface,  '  death,  which  has  repeatedly,  and  by  some  very 
unexpected  and  severe  strokes,  interrupted  and  perplexed,  the  progress 
of  this  performance,  should  ultimately  strike  the  pen  from  the  hand  of 
the  biographer,  without  allowing  him  to  terminate  what  he  has  so  long 
regarded  as  a  sacred  duty  of  friendship.  It  is  more  gratifying  to  the 
heart  to  suspend  even  an  unfinished  wreath  of  flowers  over  the  tomb 
of  a  friend,  than  to  leave  it  utterly  destitute  of  due  decoration.' 

Blake's  engraving  of  the  painter's  portrait,  as  already  stated,  was, 
for  some  reason,  omitted  from  the  published  Life,  and  his  only  con- 
tribution was  the  '  Shipwreck  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,'  a  very 
characteristic  piece  of  work.  The  greater  number  of  the  remaining 
eleven  plates  were  engraved  by  Caroline  Watson  in  her  best  manner. 
'  The  Head  of  Christ,'  an  outline,  was  etched  by  A.  Raimbach,  who 
afterwards  became  well-known  as  the  engraver  of  Wilkie's  pictures. 
Romney's  early  humorous  picture  from  Tristram  Shandy  was  the 
work  of  W.  Haines,  a  Sussex  engraver,  who  afterwards  took  to  paint- 
ing. Tom  Hayley's  medallion  of  the  artist,  which  was  included 
among  the  illustrations,  was  drawn  by  Maria  Denman,  Flaxman's 
sister-in-law,  and  engraved  by  Caroline  Watson. 

The  book,  which  was  printed  at  Chichester,  was  published  in  1809, 
a  few  months  after  the  author's  second  marriage,  and,  like  that  marriage, 
it  was  not  a  successful  venture.  By  this  time  Hayley  had  lost  much 
of  his  vogue  as  a  writer  and  arbiter  of  literary  taste,  and  the  Life 
was  received  without  enthusiasm.  Its  pompous  and  inflated  diction, 
and  the  undue  amount  of  space  given  to  Hayley's  own  effusions,  pro- 
bably had  much  to  do  with  this.  A  greater  fault  was  the  very 
inadequate  notice  given  to  what  was,  after  all,  the  chief  work  of 
Romney's  life — his  portraits.  There  is  scant  mention  of  any  of  these, 
except  where  the  sitters  were  personal  friends  of  the  writer's.  Two 
other  books  of  his,  published  about  the  same  time — his  edition  of 
Cowper's  Milton  and  a  volume  containing  three  of  his  own  tragedies 
—were  also  failures,  as  he  tells  the  world  very  frankly  in  his 
Memoirs,  though  he  supported,  '  with  his  usual  vivacity  of  heart,  the 
various  disappointments  that  arose  from  the  surprising  ill-success  that 
attended '  all  three  of  them. 

John  Romney's  Memoirs  of  his  father  did  not  appear  until  twenty- 
one  years  after  the  publication  of  Hayley's  volume.  It  was  not,  in 
the  beginning,  his  intention  to  undertake  anything  in  the  nature  of  a 

243 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 

life,  and,  in  his  preface,  he  gives  the  reason  which  caused  him  to 
change  his  mind. 

'  When  he  considered  how  much  he  was  bound  by  duty  to  protect 
the  posthumous  fame  of  his  revered  Relative,'  he  writes,  'and  saw  with 
mortification  that  all  the  accounts  which  have  been  given  both  of  him 
and  of  his  works  were  either  defective,  false,  or  injurious  ;  his  scruples 
arising  from  diffidence  soon  yielded  to  a  more  powerful  impulse,  and 
he  should  have  deemed  himself  guilty  of  very  culpable  indifference  if 
he  had  not  endeavoured  to  dispel  the  malignant  cloud  that  hangs 
over  his  Father's  memory,  and  to  place  his  character  in  its  true  light ; 
by  giving  publicity  to  the  documents  in  his  possession,  and  by  relating 
such  circumstances  as  were  within  his  own  knowledge  respecting  the 
life  and  works  of  so  rare  a  genius,  which  in  fact  none  but  himself  could 
communicate.  Whatever,  therefore,  may  be  his  defects,  he  flatters 
himself  that  the  candid  reader,  in  weighing  his  motives  and  duties, 
will  acquit  him  of  any  unbecoming  vanity  or  presumption.  Had  he 
foreseen  during  the  life  of  Mr.  Romney,  that  the  duty  of  being  his 
biographer  would  devolve  upon  himself,  he  certainly  could  have  saved 
many  interesting  anecdotes  and  characteristic  traits  which  are  now 
absorbed  in  the  impenetrable  gulph  of  oblivion.' 

He  gives,  as  the  reason  of  his  long  delay,  the  excuses  that  '  the 
author  had  no  intention  of  writing  Mr.  Romney 's  life  till  many  years 
after  his  decease,  and  was  only  induced  to  do  it  in  consequence  of  the 
errors  and  misrepresentations  of  others ;  his  bad  health,  also,  con- 
tributed much  to  delay  the  performance ;  not  to  mention  other 
impeding  causes  arising  from  different  avocations.' 

The  indignation  he  felt  with  regard  to  certain  portions  of  Hayley's 
book  was  natural  and  becoming,  more  especially  when  they  reflected 
upon  Romney 's  character  ;  but  many  of  the  errors  arose  from  lack  of 
information  such  as  John  Romney  might  well  have  supplied  if  it  had 
not  been  for  his  strong  antipathy  to  his  father's  old  friend.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  that  Hayley  received  but  scant  help  from  this 
source. 

The  Memoirs  were  printed  by  Stephen  Tyson,  of  Ulverston,  and 
published  by  Baldwin  and  Cradock  in  1830,  with  Romney's  portrait 
of  himself,  now  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery,  engraved  by  Thomas 
Wright,  as  a  frontispiece. 


244 


PLATE  XLIX 


MRS.  ROBINSON  ("PERDITA 

IN  THE  WALLACE  COLLECTION,  HERTFORD 

Page  Jig 


"') 

HOUSE 


PLATE  L 


LADY  KATHERINE  POULETT 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  THE  L ATE  HON.    HAROLD  FINCH-HATTON 


PART  II :  THE  MAN  AND  HIS  METHODS 


XX 

MISS  ANNA  SEWARD,  in  writing  to  Hayley  on  March  7th, 
1803,  sums  up  the  painters  character  fairly  well.  'Your- 
self and  the  world,'  she  says,  '  have  lost  poor  Romney  ;  that 
soul  of  genius,  honesty,  generosity,  and  petulance — and  you,  yes  you 
have  left  Eartham  !  your  once  darling  Eartham !  but  my  imagination 
obstinately  refuses  to  separate  your  image  from  that  dear  lovely  scene. 
Adieu  !  adieu  ! ' 

Ambition  to  succeed  in  his  art  was  Romney  s  ruling  passion,  and 
to  attain  this  end  he  sacrificed  many  of  those  social  amenities  which 
help  to  sweeten  life.  Excessively  nervous  and  irritable  in  tempera- 
ment, he  withdrew  into  himself  whenever  possible,  and  his  intercourse 
with  the  greater  number  of  his  fellows  was  marked  by  an  habitual 
reserve.  Although  naturally  of  an  amiable  disposition,  he  rarely 
showed  this  side  of  his  character  to  any  but  a  few  of  his  most  intimate 
friends.  He  did  not,  as  a  rule,  cultivate  general  society,  though  he 
was  by  no  means  the  recluse  which  some  of  his  biographers  have 
pictured.  In  this  he  was  the  opposite  of  Sir  Joshua,  who,  when  his 
day's  work  was  done,  spent  his  hours  of  relaxation  in  companionship 
with  cultivated  and  literary  men,  both  in  his  own  home,  and  in  the 
houses  of  celebrated  and  fashionable  people.  Romney,  on  the  other 
hand,  preferred  the  tranquillity  and  seclusion  of  his  own  studio,  and, 
unfortunately  for  his  health  and  happiness,  too  often  passed  his 
evenings  in  working  upon  designs  for  pictures  instead  of  resting  his 
tired  hand  and  exhausted  brain  ;  and  constantly  declined  invitations 
which,  if  accepted,  would  have  given  him  the  needful  change  and 
repose  for  want  of  which  both  his  health  and  art  suffered.  It  used  to 
be  a  saying  of  his,  so  Northcote  asserts,  that  if  a  painter  wished  to  do 
any  good  work,  he  must  paint  all  day,  and  study  all  night,  and  this 
precept  he  was  himself  accustomed  to  practise. 

In  the  spring  he  sometimes  walked  out  to  Kilburn  Wells,  or  some 

245 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


other  public  place  to  drink  tea  ;  and  when  the  days  were  longer  he 
would  often  dine  at  the  Long  Room,  Hampstead.  On  these  occasions 
he  always  had  a  sketch  book  with  him,  and  jotted  down  anything  that 
caught  his  fancy,  such  as  a  group  of  children,  a  passing  face,  or  a  cloud 
effect.  He  occasionally  visited  Bagnigge  Wells,  and  other  resorts 
of  the  kind  frequented  by  the  commoner  people,  which  he  regarded  as 
excellent  schools  for  the  study  of  character. 

Richard  Cumberland  somewhat  exaggerates  when  he  says  that 
Romney  '  was  never  seen  at  any  of  the  tables  of  the  Great,  Lord 
Thurlow's  excepted,  who,  being  truly  great,  knew  his  merits  well, 
and  appreciated  them  worthily ' ;  but  it  is  true  that  the  shyness  and 
reserve  of  his  nature  made  him  an  infrequent  visitor  at  such  places. 
Fanny  Burney  speaks  of  meeting  him  and  his  brother,  Captain  James 
Romney,  then  home  on  leave,  at  a  big  crush  at  the  Hooles'  in  January 
1784.  '  There  was  an  immense  party  between  dinner  and  supper,'  she 
notes  in  her  diary,  '  thirty  five  people,  among  them  were  Romney  the 
painter,  to  whom  I  had  the  pleasure  of  being  introduced,  and  a  very 
pleasing  man  he  seems  to  be !  Dr.  Kippis,  Miss  Williams  the  poetess, 
Captain  Romney,  Mr.  Romney  s  brother,  the  Kirwans,  and  Captain 
Phillips,  .  .  .  Count  Alfieri.  ...  I  had  a  good  flashing  evening,  for 
Talamas  stood  behind  my  chair  talking  part  of  the  time,  and  as 
soon  as  he  crossed  over  to  speak  to  Mrs.  Shadwell,  Captain  Romney 
took  his  place.'  Talamas  was  an  Asiatic  who  was  much  in  London 
society  about  this  time. 

In  a  letter  to  Hayley,  already  quoted,  written  in  the  summer  of 
1791,  Romney  describes  how  he  has  been  dining  with  Sir  William 
and  Lady  Hamilton,  meeting  a  crowd  of  fashionable  people  who  came 
in  afterwards  to  hear  the  hostess  sing,  and  how  entranced  he  was  by 
her  acting.  Later  in  the  same  month  he  gave  a  grand  entertainment 
in  her  honour  in  his  own  house,  to  which  various  members  of  the 
nobility  were  bidden,  before  whom  she  sang  and  acted  '  with  most 
astonishing  powers.' 

Among  his  associates  were  the  elder  Sheridan,  Henderson,  the 
actor,  whom  Gainsborough  painted  more  than  once,  Evans  the  book- 
seller and  wit,  the  Rev.  C.  Este,  editor  of  the  World  newspaper 
and  author  of  A  Journey  through  Flanders,  and  some  other  dis- 
tinguished people.  Between  the  painter  and  Henderson,  in  particular, 
there  was  much  friendly  intercourse,  and  Romney  painted  him  as 
'  Macbeth  meeting  the  Witches,'  at  about  the  time  when  Henderson 
and  Sheridan  were  giving  their  public  readings.  The  actor  and  artist 
246 


HIS  FRIENDS 


belonged  to  a  small  club,  which  eventually  took  to  itself  the  name  of 
'  The  Unincreasables,'  and  was  limited  to  eight  members.  Romney 
dined  at  the  club  with  some  regularity,  and  his  fellow  clubmen  put 
down  ten  guineas  a-piece  and  purchased  his  portrait  of  Henderson, 
which  they  raffled  among  themselves,  the  winner  being  William  Long, 
the  surgeon.  The  picture  was  engraved  in  mezzotint  by  John  Jones 
in  1787-  Two  of  the  witches  are  said  to  be  portraits  of  Charles 
Macklin  and  John  Williams.  The  third,  according  to  John  Romney, 
was  based  on  a  sketch  made  by  Romney,  during  one  of  the  read- 
ings, of  the  face  of  a  man  who  was  staring  with  all  his  attention  at 
Sheridan.  One  of  the  witches  speaks  with  raised  forefinger,  while 
the  others  hold  a  finger  to  their  lips  ;  a  procession  crosses  the  plain  in 
the  distance. 

The  names  of  his  most  intimate  friends  have  been  given  in  the 
preceding  pages.  Hayley,  of  course,  was  the  closest  of  them  all,  and 
the  one  who  had  the  most  influence  upon  his  character.  His  annual 
visits  to  Eartham  were  almost  his  only  holidays,  and  though  his  host 
was  apt  to  urge  him  to  undertake  fresh  work  instead  of  persuading  him 
to  rest,  the  change  was  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  his  health.  He 
occasionally  spent  a  few  days  at  Colne  Priory  with  the  family  of  his 
friend,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Carwardine,  whose  portrait  and  that  of  his 
wife  and  infant  son  he  painted  just  after  his  return  from  Italy.  The 
latter  is  one  of  his  most  lovely  creations,  and  is  now  in  the  possession 
of  Lord  Hillingdon.  In  the  earlier  years  of  his  residence  in  London 
he  saw  much  of  Richard  Cumberland  ;  and  certain  friends  of  his  youth, 
who  came  from  the  same  part  of  the  country  as  he  did,  such  as  Daniel 
Braithwaite,  Adam  Walker,  Thomas  Greene,  and  William  Cockin, 
remained  in  close  touch  with  him  throughout  life.  Greene  indeed  ren- 
dered him  true  and  constant  service  in  looking  after  his  monetary  affairs, 
and  acted  as  his  adviser  in  all  business  matters.  These  men  of  the 
north  were  all  sober,  upright  citizens  of  "the  middle-class,  whose  friend- 
ship is  a  proof  that  Romney  lived  a  clean  and  reputable  life. 

His  relationships  with  his  brother  painters  were,  with  few  exceptions, 
less  cordial.  He  was  friendly  with  Ozias  Humphry,  Jeremiah  Meyer, 
Hodges,  Gilpin,  Blake,  and  one  or  two  others,  but  John  Flaxman  was 
the  one  artist  among  his  contemporaries  whom  he  sincerely  loved. 
He  appears  to  have  had  no  personal  acquaintanceship  with  Gains- 
borough, though  they  had  more  than  one  friend  in  common.  The 
mutual  antipathy  which  existed  between  him  and  Reynolds  has  been 
already  touched  upon ;  how  much  of  it  was  due  to  Romney 's  shy, 

247 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


suspicious  nature  it  is  difficult  to  say.  '  Some  of  the  old  members  of 
the  Royal  Academy,'  according  to  his  son,  '  regarded  him  as  a  kind  of 
independent  rival ;  and,  as  he  kept  himself  aloof  from  them,  entertained 
hostile  feelings  towards  him,  which  they  lost  no  opportunity  of 
expressing.  There  were  others,  however,  among  them,  with  whom  he 
lived  on  terms  of  friendship,  and  who  were  free  from  that  intolerant 
esprit  du  corps,  so  incompatible  with  the  liberal  spirit  of  the  arts.' 
Nollekens,  the  sculptor,  was  certainly  one  of  the  former.  '  No  persons 
could  more  cordially  hate  each  other  than  Romney  and  Nollekens,' 
says  J.  T.  Smith  in  his  Life  of  the  latter ;  '  Mr.  Greville,  Hay  ley  and 
Flaxman,  were  staunch  friends  of  the  former,  who,  from  some  pique, 
objected  to  the  latter  modelling  from  any  of  his  portraits.  Flaxman, 
on  the  contrary,  was  so  great  a  favourite  with  Romney,  that,  in  his 
letters  to  Hay  ley,  he  absolutely  idolizes  him.'  Cunningham,  in  his 
Life,  after  speaking  of  him  as  '  a  man  of  great  natural  courtesy,'  adds 
that  '  Reynolds,  it  would  seem,  disliked  both  the  man  and  his  works; 
and  such  was  the  omnipotence  of  the  President,  that  on  whomsoever 
his  evil  eye  alighted,  that  person  had  small  chance  for  the  honours  of 
the  Academy.  Fuseli,  too, — but  that  was  in  a  later  day — ranked 
Romney  with  those  whom  he  called  "coat  and  waistcoat  painters." 

'  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  acknowleged  that  Romney  was 
equally  sensitive  and  proud — a  man  most  easily  moved  to  anger  or  to 
love — covetous  of  approbation,  and  willing  to  resent  difference  of 
opinion,  as  a  sin  at  once  against  himself  and  pure  taste.  He  was,  from 
all  I  have  heard,  a  man  likely  enough  to  take  a  sort  of  pleasure  in 
having  it  said  that  he  belonged  not  to  the  Royal  Academy,  and 
witnessing  the  odium  which  the  President's  party  incurred  by  keeping 
an  artist  of  his  talents  and  fame  out  of  their  ranks.' 

Northcote  tells  a  story  in  his  Reminiscences,  which  indicates  how 
little  sympathy  there  was  between  the  two  painters  : — '  One  morning 
when  Garrick  paid  a  visit  to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  I  overheard  him,  as 
I  was  then  working  in  the  adjoining  room.  He  was  speaking  with 
great  freedom  of  Cumberland  the  author,  and  condemned  his  dramatic 
works.  I  remember  his  expression  was  this — "  Damn  his  dish-clout 
face !  His  plays  would  never  do  for  the  stage  if  I  did  not  cook  them 
up  and  make  epilogues  and  prologues  too  for  them,  and  so  they  go 
down  with  the  public."  He  also  added,  "He  hates  you,  Sir  Joshua, 
because  you  do  not  admire  his  Correggio."  "  What  Correggio  ? " 
answered  Sir  Joshua.  "  Why,  his  Correggio,"  replied  Garrick,  "is 
Romney  the  painter."' 
248 


REYNOLDS  AND  ROMNEY 


A  further  reference  to  the  relations  which  existed  between  the  two 
men  will  be  found  in  the  recently  published  memoirs  of  Lord  Holland,1 
who  records  in  his  diary  that  '  Reynolds  was  prosperous  in  his  life  and 
cheerful  in  his  temper.  It  is  possible  that  he  might  not  be,  at  all  seasons, 
quite  exempt  from  that  jealousy  to  which  artists  are  so  particularly 
liable.  In  mitigation,  however,  if  not  in  contradiction,  to  such  insinua- 
tions against  him,  I  can  myself  bear  testimony  to  his  speaking 
frequently  of  Gainsborough  in  terms  of  kindness  and  admiration ;  of 
Wilson,  whom  he  is  supposed  to  have  disliked  personally,  with  high 
commendation  ;  and  even  of  Romney,  whom  a  set  of  minor  wits  were 
industrious  in  extolling  at  his  expense,  with  full  acknowledgment  of 
his  peculiar  merits,  and  with  ample  praise  of  his  talents  as  a  draughts- 
man.' Hayley  displayed  decided  acumen  in  the  contrast  he  drew 
between  the  art  and  character  of  Reynolds  and  Romney.  '  We  may 
consider,'  he  holds,  'an  ardent  and  powerful  imagination,  acute  and 
delicate  sensibility,  and  a  passion  for  study,  as  the  three  qualities 
peculiarly  essential  towards  forming  a  great  artist.  Of  these  three 
important  endowments,  I  believe  nature  to  have  bestowed  a  larger 
portion  on  Romney  than  on  Reynolds ;  but  in  her  bounty  to  the  latter 
she  added  some  inestimable  qualities,  which  more  than  turned  the 
scale  in  his  favour.  They  rendered  him  pre-eminent  in  three  great 
objects  of  human  pursuit,  in  fortune,  infelicity  and  in  fame.' 

Reynolds,  he  goes  on  to  say,  had  4  that  mild  and  serene  wisdom, 
which  enables  a  man  to  exert  whatever  talents  he  possesses  with  the 
fullest  and  happiest  effect,'  and,  '  a  highly -polished  good  humour, 
which  conciliates  universal  esteem ;  and  disarms,  if  it  does  not 
annihilate,  that  envious  malevolence,  which  genius  and  prosperity  are 
so  apt  to  excite.  Doctor  Johnson  very  truly  said  of  Reynolds,  that  he 
was  the  most  invulnerable  of  men ;  but  of  Romney  it  might  be  said, 
with  equal  truth,  that  a  man  could  hardly  exist,  whom  it  was  so  easy 
to  wound.  His  imagination  was  so  tremblingly  alive,  that  even  a 
slight  appearance  of  coldness  in  a  friend,  or  of  hostility  in  a  critic,  was 
sometimes  sufficient  to  suspend  or  obstruct  the  exertion  of  his  finer 
faculties.  Had  it  been  possible  for  Romney  to  have  united  a  daunt- 
less and  invariable  serenity  of  mind  to  such  feelings  and  powers,  as  he 
possessed,  when  his  nerves  wrere  happily  free  from  all  vexatious  irrita- 
tion, I  am  persuaded  he  would  have  risen  to  a  degree  of  excellence  in 
art  superior  to  what  has  hitherto  been  displayed.' 

Cumberland  in  his  Memoirs,  published  in  1806,  also  attempts  a 

1  Further  Memoirs  of  the  Whig  Party,  1807-1821,  edited  by  Lord  Stavordale,  1905. 

249 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


comparison  between  the  two  painters.  After  speaking  of  Reynolds, 
he  continues  : — '  Romney  in  the  mean  time  shy,  private,  studious  and 
contemplative  ;  conscious  of  all  the  disadvantages  and  privations  of  a 
very  stinted  education  ;  of  a  habit  naturally  hypochondriac,  with  aspen 
nerves,  that  every  breath  could  ruffle,  was  at  once  in  art  the  rival,  and 
in  nature  the  very  contrast  of  Sir  Joshua.  A  man  of  few  wants,  strict 
ceconomy  and  with  no  dislike  to  money,  he  had  opportunities  enough 
to  enrich  him  even  to  satiety,  but  he  was  at  once  so  eager  to  begin, 
and  so  slow  in  finishing  his  portraits,  that  he  was  for  ever  disappointed 
of  receiving  payments  for  them  by  the  casualties  and  revolutions  in  the 
families  they  were  designed  for,  so  many  of  his  sitters  were  killed  off', 
so  many  favourite  ladies  were  dismissed,  so  many  fond  wives  divorced, 
before  he  would  bestow  half-an-hour's  pains  upon  their  petticoats,  that 
his  unsaleable  stock  was  immense,  whilst  with  a  little  more  regularity 
and  decision  he  would  have  more  than  doubled  his  fortune,  and  escaped 
an  infinitude  of  petty  troubles,  that  disturbed  his  temper.  At  length 
exhausted  rather  by  the  languour  than  by  the  labour  of  his  mind,  this 
admirable  artist  retired  to  his  native  county  in  the  north  of  England, 
and  there,  after  hovering  between  life  and  death,  neither  wholly 
deprived  of  the  one,  nor  completely  rescued  by  the  other,  he  con- 
tinued to  decline,  till  at  last  he  sunk  into  a  distant  and  inglorious 
grave,  fortunate  alone  in  this,  that  his  fame  is  consigned  to  the  protec- 
tion of  Mr.  Hayley,  from  whom  the  world  expects  his  history.' 

Added  to  a  morbid  sensitiveness,  which  kept  him  in  a  constant 
dread  of  criticism,  and  often  made  life  a  misery  to  him,  his  character 
was  marked  by  an  irresolution  and  lack  of  moral  courage,  which 
reflected  seriously  upon  his  art.  His  constant,  almost  passionate, 
desire  to  devote  the  larger  part  of  his  time  to  the  production  of  great 
designs,  and  to  abandon  portraiture  for  a  higher  form  of  painting,  was 
frustrated  by  this  weakness  of  his  nature,  and  not,  as  Cumberland 
suggests,  by  his  love  of  money.  He  had  to  make  his  own  way  in  the 
world,  without  assistance  from  his  own  or  other  people,  and  had  a  wife 
and  family  to  keep,  and  brothers  to  help,  so  that  it  was  natural  for  him 
to  devote  himself  to  the  hard  labour  of  painting  portraits  for  so 
long  as  his  future  prospects  remained  unassured.  But  there  was  no 
avaricious  strain  in  his  character,  and  his  chief  incentive  to  labour  until 
he  had  made  for  himself  a  modest  fortune,  was  that  by  its  means  he 
would  be  able,  in  the  end,  to  devote  himself  to  that  branch  of  painting 
in  which  he  so  ardently  desired  to  become  famous. 

Cumberland,  to  quote  again  from  the  short  memoir  published  in 
250 


HIS  GENEROSITY 


The  European  Magazine,  continues  :— '  Mr.  Romney  was  the  maker 
of  his  own  fortune;  and  inasmuch  as  lie  allowed  himself  not  sufficient 
leisure  to  execute  many  great  designs,  which  the  fertility  of  his  genius 
conceived,  may  be  said  so  far  to  have  been  more  attentive  to  that  than 
to  his  fame.  Whilst  his  mind  was  pregnant  with  magnificent  ideas, 
and  his  rooms  and  passages  loaded  with  unfinished  portraits,  he  had 
not  resolution  to  turn  away  a  new  comer,  though  he  might  come  with 
a  countenance  that  would  have  chilled  the  genius  of  a  Michael  Angelo. 
If,  therefore,  it  was  the  love  of  gain  that  operated  on  him  upon  these 
occasions,  it  was  a  principle  that  counteracted  its  own  object ;  but 
there  was  also  a  weakness  in  his  nature  that  could  never  make  a  stand 
against  importunity  of  any  sort ;  he  was  a  man  of  a  most  gentle 
temper,  with  most  irritable  nerves.  He  was  constantly  projecting 
great  undertakings  for  the  honour  of  his  art,  and  at  the  same  time 
involving  himself  in  new  engagements  to  render  them  impracticable.' 

John  Romney,  as  was  only  natural,  took  exception  to  this  view  of 
his  father's  conduct.  '  Mr.  Romney  '  he  replied  in  defence,  '  undoubt- 
edly had  his  share  of  infirmities  ;  but  his  errors  were  rather  the  off- 
spring of  circumstance,  than  originating  from  any  corrupt  principle. 
He  was  the  dupe  of  his  feelings,  but  exempt  from  all  gross  propensities. 
His  honour  and  his  honesty  were  naturally  pure  ;  and  he  harboured  no 
malevolent  passions  in  his  breast.  He  was  free  from  the  debasing 
influence  of  avarice,  which  has  been  imputed  to  Sir  Joshua.  Mr. 
Cumberland,  indeed,  has  said,  that  "  he  had  no  dislike  to  money  "  ;  but 
this  reflection  is  as  unkind  as  it  is  uncandid.  Mr.  Romney,  from 
having  had  to  struggle  for  so  many  years  with  poverty,  had,  perhaps, 
contracted  some  little  habits  of  parsimony,  but  the  mind  had  no  parti- 
cipation in  them.  Can  a  man  be  said  to  be  fond  of  money  who  had 
the  generosity  to  advance  his  brother  six  hundred  pounds,  to  fit  him 
out  for  India,  which  was  all  the  money  he  had  in  the  world,  and  which 
he  had  saved  in  the  preceding  year !  But  this  Mr.  Romney  did,  and 
at  that  period  of  his  life  too  (aged  forty-two)  when  it  became  highly 
expedient  that  he  should  lose  no  time  in  providing  for  himself.  Mr. 
Cumberland  ought  to  have  remembered,  that  when  he  himself  was  in 
need,  after  his  return  from  Spain,  Mr.  Romney  advanced  him  five 
hundred  pounds  in  the  most  liberal  manner.  Being  a  man  of  tender 
feelings,  he  was  ever  alive  to  applications  for  charity  ;  and  the  readiness 
with  which  he  gave,  made  those  applications  frequent.  He  felt  every 
disposition,  also,  to  succour  young  artists  of  talent  ;  and  whenever  he 

251 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


heard  of  any  such  impeded  by  poverty,  his  purse  was  open  for  their 
assistance.  ...  It  was  not  in  the  want  of  generosity,  but  in  the  mis- 
application of  it,  that  his  fault  lay.  When  a  man  makes  his  feelings 
his  guide,  he  follows  an  ignis  fatuus,  which  may  lead  him  into  bogs  and 
quagmires.  There  was  a  fibre  about  Mr.  Romney's  heart,  which  the 
artful  and  designing  knew  well  how  to  touch,  and  make  subservient  to 
their  own  base  views  and  advantage.  Whatever  errors  he  committed 
they  mainly  sprang  from  this  source.' 

His  generosity  was,  indeed,  undoubted.  Colonel  James  Romney 
was  not  the  only  brother  he  helped,  though  the  only  one  who  repaid 
him.  He  rescued  Peter  from  a  debtor's  prison,  and  set  him  on  his 
unstable  legs  more  than  once.  Even  Hayley  and  Cumberland 
borrowed  from  him.  When  young  Flaxman  was  about  to  start  for 
Rome,  the  older  artist  wished  him  to  take  two  hundred  pounds,  which 
was  delicately  offered  and  gratefully  declined.  Mention  has  been 
already  made  of  the  assistance  he  gave  to  his  landlord  at  Pine  Apple 
Place  at  a  critical  moment.  Sucli  instances  prove  that  he  never 
hesitated  to  help  those  in  trouble  with  gifts  of  large  sums  of  money, 
sums  which,  during  the  earlier  period  of  his  career,  he  could  ill  afford 
to  lose,  though  his  propensity  for  giving,  except  as  regards  his 
pictures,  was  not  quite  so  fantastic  as  that  of  Gainsborough.  He 
spent  little  upon  himself,  being  careful  and  economical  in  his  habits, 
and  made  no  attempt  to  live  in  grand  style.  His  only  extravagance 
was  in  the  house-building  of  his  last  years,  and  in  spite  of  the  money 
thus  thrown  away  at  Hampstead,  he  left  his  family  in  very  comfort- 
able circumstances. 

Flaxman,  in  the  sketch  he  wrote  for  Hayley 's  Life,  says  of  him 
that  '  no  one  could  be  more  modest  concerning  himself ;  seldom 
speaking  of  any  thing  he  did,  and  never  in  reference  to  its  merits. 
But  he  was  exceedingly  liberal  respecting  others,  rarely  finding  faults 
in  the  works  of  his  contemporaries,  and  giving  cordial  praise  wherever 
he  saw  excellence.  An  instance  of  his  conduct  relating  to  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  deserves  to  be  mentioned.  Being  present  when  some 
intimate  friends  were  delivering  their  opinions  on  Sir  Joshua's  picture 
of  Hercules  strangling  the  serpents,  painted  for  the  Empress  of 
Russia,  "Gentlemen,  (said  he)  I  have  listened  to  all  you  have  said; 
some  observations  are  true,  and  some  are  nonsense,  but  no  other  man 
in  Europe  could  paint  such  a  picture." ' 

Cumberland  gives  a  graphic  description  of  his  behaviour  in  the 
intimacy  of  private  life,  which  should  not  go  unquoted  : — 


HIS  CONVERSATION 


'  When  in  company  with  his  intimates  (and  indeed  few  others 
were  admitted  to  his  privacy),  he  would  sit  for  a  length  of  time 
absorbed  in  thought,  and  absent  from  the  matter  in  discourse,  till  on 
a  sudden  starting  from  his  seat,  he  would  give  vent  to  the  effusions  of 
his  fancy,  and  harangue  in  the  most  animated  manner  upon  the 
subject  of  his  art,  with  a  sublimity  of  idea,  and  a  peculiarity  of 
expressive  language,  that  was  entirely  his  own,  and  in  which  education 
or  reading  had  no  share.  These  sallies  of  natural  genius,  clothed  in 
natural  eloquence,  were  perfectly  original,  very  highly  edifying,  and 
entertaining  in  the  extreme.  They  were  uttered  in  a  hurried  accent, 
an  elevated  tone,  and  very  commonly  accompanied  with  tears,  to 
which  he  was  by  constitution  prone.  A  noble  sentiment,  either 
recited  from  book  by  the  reader,  or  springing  from  the  heart  of  the 
speaker,  never  failed  to  make  his  eyes  overflow,  and  his  voice 
tremble,  whilst  he  applauded  it.  He  was  on  these  occasions  like  a 
man  possessed,  and  his  friends  became  studious  not  to  agitate  him 
too  often,  or  too  much,  with  topics  of  this  sort.' 

Hayley  also  says  that  '  in  conversation  he  was  often  delightfully 
eloquent,  particularly  in  describing  to  a  friend  pathetic  scenes  in 
humble  life,  which  he  often  explored ;  sometimes  for  the  purpose  of 
discovering  new  subjects  for  his  art,  and  frequently  for  the  nobler 
purpose  of  relieving  distress.' 

The  education  he  received  as  a  boy  was  a  poor  one,  but  he  had 
learnt  much  in  the  great  school  of  nature,  and  was  in  no  ways  the 
ignorant  countryman  his  rivals  imagined,  or,  at  least,  reported  him  to 
be.  The  numerous  extracts  from  his  letters  which  Hayley  printed,1 
in  part  to  show  that  the  charge  made  in  public  by  one  of  his  friends 
that  he  was  '  so  grossly  illiterate  that  he  was  utterly  unable  to  write 
even  an  ordinary  letter,'  was  absolutely  unfounded,  could  not  have 
been  penned  by  an  ignorant  man.  Romney  hated  writing  an  ordinary 
epistle  of  thanks  or  civility,  and  his  spelling  was  as  uncertain  as  that 
«  of  most  of  his  contemporaries,  but  when  communicating  on  terms  of 
intimacy  with  a  friend,  '  he  could  write,'  says  the  bard  of  Eartham, 
•  with  a  natural  eloquence,  flowing  from  feelings  at  once  so  tender, 
and  so  acute,  that  the  language,  they  suggested,  could  hardly  fail  to 
excite  a  considerable  degree  of  sympathy,  even  in  a  stranger.'  His 
biographer,  indeed,  goes  so  far  as  to  suggest  that  had  he  used  the 
pen  instead  of  the  pencil,  he  would  have  become  as  original  a  writer 
as  Rousseau. 

1  Hayley  apparently  '  edited  '  these  letters,  and  certainly  corrected  the  spelling. 

253 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Allan  Cunningham  puts  the  whole  case  very  clearly  when  he 
declares  that  •  Nature  had  given  him  strong  talents,  a  keen  eye, 
curiosity,  and  imagination ;  the  exercise  of  his  profession  kept  him 
in  constant  collision  with  people  of  various  orders ; — in  a  word,  nature 
and  society  held  their  leaves  open  before  him  ;  and  out  of  these 
universal  volumes,  with  such  aid  of  printed  books  as  chance  might 
throw  in  his  way,  Romney  had,  somehow  or  other,  educated  himself 
much  better  than  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred,  in  any  university  in 
the  world,  ever  were  or  will  be.' 

What  Hayley  says  about  Rousseau  is,  of  course,  merely  the 
natural  exaggeration  of  a  friend,  but  it  must  be  acknowledged 
that  the  letters  show  that  Romney  possessed  considerable  power  of 
expression,  while  in  more  than  one  of  the  earlier  ones  there  is 
evidence  that  he  had  a  sense  of  humour,  though  he  did  not  often 
give  it  play. 

The  following  letter,  written  from  Lancaster  in  his  youthful  days, 
to  his  friend  Adam  Walker,  in  Preston,  is  certainly  [not  the  work  of 
an  utterly  illiterate  man  : — 

'  On  Tuesday  morning,  at  six  o'clock,  I  had  just  raised  my  head 
from  my  pillow  to  go  and  mount  my  hobby-horse,  when  my  mortal 
clay  proved  so  heavy,  I  sunk  down  into  the  hollow  my  round  shoulders 
had  made.  My  imagination  immediately  took  a  journey — Oh 
imagination  where  wilt  thou  ramble,  and  what  wilt  thou  seek  ?  Did 
I  not  find  more  pleasure  in  thy  contemplative  excursions  than  in 
bodily  enjoyments,  I  would  not  give  two-pence  for  this  world.  But 
I  say  my  imagination  took  a  journey,  a  journey  it  often  takes ;  never 
a  day  comes,  but  it  is  wandering  to  that  same  Preston.  What  it  can 
find  there  so  attractive  God  knows.  However  when  I  had  travelled 
over  that  vast  tract  of  land  in  half  a  second,  the  first  object  that 
saluted  my  sight  was  a  tall,  lean  figure,  walking  with  an  important 
air,  as  erect  as  the  dancing  master  in  Hogarth's  Analysis.  "  Good 
God  !  (say  I  to  myself)  who  can  this  be  ?  I  certainly  must  know 
the  person,  but  he  seems  so  disguised  with  that  importance  and 
gravity,  which  look  so  like  burlesque,  1  can  scarce  forbear  smiling." 
As  he  approached  nearer  he  turned  his  face  towards  me — with  an 
earnest  look  made  a  stand — threw  off  his  disguise  by  drawing  up 
the  muscles  of  his  cheeks,  and  hiding  his  eyes.  Astonishing !  I  stood 
motionless  three  seconds,  then  ran  up  to  him,  catched  hold  of  his 
hand  with  the  eagerness  with  which  sincere  friends  generally  meet ; 
"  My  dear  Walker  how  do  you  do  ?  By  my  soul  I  am  glad  to  see 
254 


MRS.  NATHANIEL  LEE  ACTON 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  LORD  DE  SAU.MAREZ 

Pages  321,  336  344 


PLATE  LI1 


LADY  LEMON 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  COLONEL  TREMAYNE 

Page  322 


PERSONAL  TRAITS 


you,  and  find  you  are  well,  &c."  "  O  Sir,  not  so  familiar." — "  Sir 
I  humbly  beg  pardon  for  saluting  your  importance  in  so  rough  a 
manner  in  the  open  street,  &c." ' 

It  was  not  self-consciousness,  arising  from  the  perception  of  his 
lack  of  education  that  forced  him  to  hold  aloof  from  general  society 
as  much  as  possible  ;  but  rather  an  acutely  sensitive  and  suspicious 
nature,  combined  with  a  vivid  imagination,  which  caused  him  to  fancy 
slights  when  none  were  intended,  and  to  construe  indifference  into 
enmity.  Although  his  friendships  among  artists  were  few,  he  was 
always  just  and  generous  in  his  appreciation  of  their  work.  '  He 
was  a  rapturous  advocate  for  nature,'  says  Cumberland,  'and  a  close 
copyist,  abhorring  from  his  heart  every  distortion,  or  unseemly 
violation,  of  her  pure  and  legitimate  forms  and  proportions.  An 
enfiamed  and  meretricious  stile  of  colouring  he  could  never  endure; 
and  the  contemplation  of  bad  painting  sensibly  affected  his  spirits 
and  shook  his  nerves.'  But  where  praise  was  due  he  was  never  back- 
ward in  giving  it,  and  where  it  was  not  he  believed  in  the  wisdom 
of  silence.  '  To  the  distinguished  merits  of  his  great  contemporary 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  he  gave  most  unequivocal  testimony ;  but  he 
declined  to  visit  him,  from  the  shyness  of  his  nature,  and  because  it 
was  a  house  of  great  resort.  He  could  not  be  at  his  ease,  and  he 
was  never  in  the  habit  of  visiting,  or  being  visited  but  by  his 
intimates ;  and  they  certainly  did  not  resort  to  him  for  the  delicacies 
of  his  table ;  as  nothing  could  be  worse  administered  ;  for  of  those 
things  he  had  no  care,  and  for  himself  a  little  broth  or  tea  would 
suffice,  though  he  worked  at  his  eazil  from  early  morning  till  the  sun 
went  down.' 

As  his  age  increased,  and  his  health  became  enfeebled  through  an 
intemperate  indulgence  in  work,  and  want  of  proper  exercise  and 
relaxation,  his  petulance,  irritability,  and  morbidness  grew  greater, 
until  he  was  rarely  free  from  the  miserable  depression  resulting  from 
hypochondria. 

'  The  infirmities  of  old  age,'  says  his  son,  '  came  upon  Mr.  Romney 
sooner  than  he  expected ;  he  reckoned  upon  a  longer  life,  and  in 
truth,  according  to  the  common  course  of  vigorous  nature,  he  might 
have  retained  his  faculties  unimpaired  for  at  least  ten  years  longer. 
His  constitution,  however,  began  to  give  way  in  his  sixtieth  year, 
(1794);  but  his  genius,  like  the  light  of  a  taper  approaching  to  its 
extinction,  occasionally  burst  into  fits  of  splendour  during  its  decline.' 

255 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


He  then  quotes  a  letter  which  he  received  from  his  father,  written 
on  March  15th,  1794,  which  shows  how  this  irritability  of  mind  was 
growing  upon  him — '  I  have  made  many  grand  designs,  I  have  formed 
a  system  of  original  subjects,  moral,  and  my  own — and  I  think  one  of  the 
grandest  that  has  been  thought  of — but  nobody  knows  it.  Hence  it 
is  my  view  to  wrap  myself  in  retirement,  and  pursue  these  plans, 
as  I  begin  to  feel  I  cannot  bear  trouble  of  any  kind.' 

According  to  the  same  biographer,  Romney  '  was  naturally  of  a 
placid  and  easy  disposition,  and  it  was  only  in  the  decline  of  life, 
when  his  health  was  impaired  by  application,  and  his  feelings  ruffled  by 
peculiar  circumstances,  that  he  manifested  that  morbidness  of  feeling, 
which  Mr.  Hayley  has  been  so  particular  in  noticing.  The  love  of 
retirement,  combining  its  influence  with  this  diseased  state  of  his 
mind,  soon  began  to  generate  visionary  and  expensive  schemes,  which, 
instead  of  ministering  to  his  comfort,  aggravated  his  infirmities.  He 
had  lived  so  long  in  peculiar  habits,  that  he  had  lost  the  just  concep- 
tion of  that  happiness,  which  results  from  retirement ;  its  impressions, 
however,  still  remained  on  his  memory,  but  distorted  and  exaggerated 
by  the  influence  of  a  distempered  imagination.  From  his  youth  he 
meditated  on  retirement ;  it  was  a  family  propensity.' 

During  these  periods  of  acute  depression  he  was  not  always  the 
most  pleasant  of  companions,  even  in  the  genial  atmosphere  of 
Eartham,  where  he  was  most  at  home,  and  received  the  most  flattering 
attentions. 

'  It  was  certainly  a  task  of  some  anxious  care,'  writes  the  master  of 
the  house,  '  to  preserve  in  the  mind  of  Romney,  a  tolerable  degree  of 
social  serenity,  when  his  health  was  disordered  ;  for  with  great  mental 
powers,  he  had  never  acquired  that  proper  instantaneous  command 
of  an  excellent  understanding,  so  necessary  to  the  preservation  of 
mental  peace ;  a  species  of  dominion  hardly  ever  acquired  by  any 
mortal  of  such  exquisite  sensibility ;  for  his  feelings  were  quick,  and 
acute,  to  an  astonishing  and  perilous  degree.  He  was  subject  to 
"  thick-coming  fancies,"  concerning  trivial  variations  in  the  symptoms 
of  his  health  ;  but  whatever  trouble  his  friends  of  Eartham  could 
take  in  their  solicitude  to  restore  him,  it  was  abundantly  compensated 
by  the  delight  they  took  not  only  in  his  talents,  but  in  his  affectionate 
attachment  to  the  scene,  where  he  had  now  been  a  favorite  guest  more 
than  twenty  years.' 

One  other  side  of  his  character,  touched  upon  by  Hayley  with 
256 


THE  CHIEF  BLOT   ON   HIS  CHARACTER 


his  usual  affectionate  exaggeration,  should  find  a  place  in  any  attempt 
to  give  a  complete  picture  of  the  man.    He  writes: — 

'  Of  Romney  I  can  say,  with  the  most  satisfactory  conviction,  that 
he  had  a  most  sincere  and  cordial  reverence  for  the  Gospel.  ...  It 
was  in  truth  his  intention  to  devote  his  pencil,  and  his  mind,  in  the 
full  maturity  of  their  powers,  to  subjects  derived  from  that  religion, 
which  not  only  surpasses  every  other,  as  a  rule  of  life,  but  affords 
also  the  richest  and  purest  fund  of  pathetic  and  sublime  imagery  to 
exercise,  and  ennoble,  all  the  finest  of  the  arts.  His  devotional 
feelings  were  naturally  so  strong  that  if  he  had  employed 
his  talents  entirely  on  sacred  subjects,  he  would  have  greatly 
resembled  that  amiable  and  devout  painter  of  Italy,  Fra  Giovanni 
Angelico,  who  never  resumed  his  pencil  without  a  prayer,  and 
had  his  eyes  filled  with  tears  in  representing  the  sufferings  of  our 
Saviour.' 

By  far  the  greatest  blot  on  his  character,  a  fault  which  it  is  less 
easy  to  forgive  than  to  excuse,  was  his  desertion  of  his  wife  for 
thirty-seven  years.  Excuses  of  a  certain  kind  may  be  found  for  him, 
but  even  with  this  help  it  is  difficult  to  condone  such  conduct.  Few, 
indeed,  of  the  many  who  have  written  about  the  man  and  his  art, 
have  attempted  to  do  so.  Abuse  and  scorn  have  been  showered 
upon  him  in  superabundance,  sometimes  with  an  intemperance  and 
lack  of  justice  which  defeat  their  own  ends  through  their  over- 
emphasis. 

Certainly,  in  the  beginning,  Romney  had  no  intention  that  the 
parting  should  be  more  than  a  temporary  one,  undertaken  for  the 
threefold  purpose  of  suitable  provision  for  the  support  of  his  family,  of 
improvement  in  his  art,  and  of  gaining  for  himself  an  assured  position 
among  the  leading  painters  of  the  day.  It  was,  indeed,  a  case  of  the 
gradual  drifting  apart  of  two  natures  not  altogether  well  matched,  for 
Romney  was  entirely  wrapped  up  in  his  art,  while  his  wife,  as  far  as 
can  be  gathered,  was  indifferent  to  all  that  for  him  made  life  worth 
living. 

Romney  always  kept  the  fact  of  his  marriage  in  the  background  ; 
but  there  is  no  proof  that  he  wilfully  concealed  it  from  the  world. 
Even  had  he  desired  to  do  so,  it  would  have  been  impossible,  for  he 
had  several  north-country  friends  in  London  who  knew  all  about  his 
affairs,  and  the  few  men  with  whom  he  became  intimate,  such  as 
Hayley,  were  well  aware  that  he  was  a  married  man.  But  to  his 
sitters,  who  soon  became  numerous,  and  to  his  mere  acquaintances,  he 

G.  B.-17  257 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


kept  silence,  influenced  to  some  extent,  no  doubt,  by  the  current  report 
that  Sir  Joshua,  then  at  the  height  of  his  reputation,  had  declared  that 
it  was  fatal  to  the  prospects  of  a  young  artist  to  get  married.  It  seems 
to  have  been  Reynolds's  habit  to  make  some  such  remark  to  all  young 
painters.  J.  T.  Smith,  in  his  Life  of  Nollekens,  says  that  '  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  meeting  Flaxman  soon  after  he  had  received  the  hand  of 
Miss  Denman,  in  1782,  said  to  him  :  "  So,  Flaxman,  you  are  married  ; 
there's  no  going  to  Italy  now."'  Mr.  Baily,  my  informant,  added,  that 
it  has  been  said,  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  this  observation  of  the 
President  that  he  was  determined  to  visit  Rome.'  Some  such  remark 
as  this,  made  twenty  years  earlier  to  some  other  artist,  may,  if  told 
to  Romney,  have  helped  to  intensify  his  reticence  about  his  own 
marriage.  As  time  of  absence  lengthened,  any  return  to  the  earlier 
and  more  intimate  relationship  grew  more  difficult.  Romney  now 
moved  in  a  society  of  much  higher  standing  than  he  had  done  in 
Kendal,  and  one  in  which  the  homely  wife  in  the  North  would  have 
felt  out  of  place  and  ill  at  ease.  He  did  not  fail  completely  in  his 
duty,  for  his  income  he  always  shared  with  her,  and  he  gave  his  son, 
who  was  a  constant  visitor  in  his  father's  house,  an  University  educa- 
tion;  but  in  his  successes  in  the  world  of  art  she  had  no  share,  and, 
apparently,  did  not  ask  it.  This  desertion,  all  the  same,  must  have  had 
a  lasting  effect  on  such  a  sensitive,  irritable  nature  as  Romney 's. 
Habit  may  have  blunted  the  feeling,  but  useless  regrets  must  often 
have  grown  insistent,  and  much  of  the  unhappiness  of  the  latter  years 
of  his  life  was,  no  doubt,  due  to  his  knowledge  that  through  lack  of 
moral  courage  he  had  signally  failed  in  one  of  the  most  sacred  duties  a 
man  can  undertake.  We  know  practically  nothing  of  the  wife's  side  of 
the  case,  except  that  she  was  a  woman  with  an  unbounded  capacity  for 
forgiveness ;  for  when  Romney,  old,  half-paralysed,  with  failing  brain, 
and  a  hand  which  had  completely  lost  its  cunning,  finally  returned  to 
her,  she  uttered  no  word  of  reproach  or  complaint,  but  nursed  him 
through  the  three  years  that  remained  to  him  with  a  tender  affection 
and  careful  solicitude  which  he  had  done  little  or  nothing  to  deserve. 
There  can  be  small  doubt  that  Romney 's  life  would  have  been  happier, 
and  he  might,  too,  have  left  behind  him  a  greater  body  of  completed 
work,  outside  his  portraiture,  in  the  field  in  which  he  was  always 
striving  for  success,  if  his  wife  had  shared  his  home,  if  not  his  ambi- 
tions, and  had  brought  into  it  that  intimate  sympathy  in  the  affairs  of 
daily  life  which  would  have  strengthened  his  character  where  it  was 
weakest,  and  helped  him  to  conquer  some  at  least  of  the  imaginary 
258 


HIS  TREATMENT  OF   HIS  WIFE 


troubles  which  his  morbid  fancy  constantly  conjured  up,  to  the  great 
detriment  both  of  his  health  and  of  his  art. 

Romney's  treatment  of  his  wife  has  been  so  often  and  so  severely 
criticised,  sometimes  with  but  little  knowledge  of  the  real  facts,  and  is, 
in  any  case,  a  question  of  such  exceptional  interest  in  a  life  which  in  all 
other  ways  was  well  ordered,  and  free  from  any  suggestion  of  evil- 
doing,  that  the  explanation  of  it  given  by  his  rival  biographers,  upon 
which  almost  all  such  criticism  is  based,  is  well  worth  quoting,  at  least 
in  part,  in  their  own  words. 

This  is  how  Hayley  deals  with  the  subject : — There  is  a  kind  of 
rash  repentance  for  an  imprudent  and  irretrievable  measure,  which  may 
be  infinitely  more  imprudent,  and  more  injurious,  than  the  measure 
itself — such  repentance  was  the  great  error  and  infelicity  in  the  life  of 
my  too  apprehensive  friend.  It  is  a  maxim  too  prevalent  in  the  world, 
and  a  maxim,  which,  from  its  unfavourable  influence  on  the  great 
interests  of  mankind,  deserves  the  most  zealous  animadversion,  that 
early  marriage  is  a  mill-stone  round  the  neck  of  an  enterprising  young 
man,  who  aspires  to  make  his  fortune  by  the  cultivation  of  his  talents. 
.  .  .  My  readers  may  be  more  inclined  to  pity  the  juvenile  Romney  for 
having  acted  under  the  distracting  influence  of  such  an  idea,  when  they 
are  informed,  that,  in  a  very  mature  season  of  life,  his  great  rival,  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds,  entertained  the  same  erroneous  apprehension.  When 
a  young  student,  of  the  highest  hopes  in  our  country,  waited  on  that 
illustrious  President  of  the  Academy,  and  said  "  that  he  was  preparing 
to  pursue  his  studies  in  Italy,  and  that  he  was  just  married": — "Married 
(exclaimed  Sir  Joshua),  then  you  are  ruined  as  an  artist."  If  the 
mildest,  and  most  polite  painter  of  Europe  could,  by  the  influence  of 
this  pernicious  idea,  be  hurried  into  an  expression  so  coarse,  so  cruel, 
and  as  the  event  most  happily  proved,  so  utterly  false,  what  agony 
of  spirit  may  we  justly  suppose  the  same  idea  to  have  produced 
in  the  young  married  Romney,  whose  constitutional  character 
united  the  opposite  extremes  of  the  most  apprehensive  diffidence, 
and  the  most  aspiring  ambition !  He  described  his  mental  sufferings 
on  this  occasion  in  terms,  that  might  excite  compassion  even  in  a 
flinty  heart. 

'  The  terror  of  precluding  himself  from  those  distant  honours, 
which  he  panted  for  in  his  profession,  by  appearing  in  the  world  as  a 
young  married  man,  agitated  the  ambitious  artist  almost  to  distraction, 
and  made  him  resolve  very  soon  after  his  marriage,  as  he  had  no  means 
of  breaking  the  fetters,  which  he  wildly  regarded  as  inimical  to  the 

259 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


improvement  and  exertion  of  genius,  to  hide  them  as  much  as  possible 
from  his  troubled  fancy.  The  return  of  his  master  from  his  nuptial 
excursion,  and  his  sudden  removal  from  Kendal  to  York,  which  took 
place  in  a  few  days  after  the  marriage  of  his  apprentice,  afforded  a 
most  seasonable  termination  to  this  excruciating  conflict  in  the  mind 
of  Romney. 

'  Being  thus  removed  from  the  object  of  his  inquietude,  he 
gradually  recovered  the  powers  of  his  extraordinary  mind,  a  mind 
of  exquisite  sensibility,  and  of  towering  faculties,  but  unhappily 
distracted  with  a  tumultuary  crowd  of  ambitious  and  apprehensive 
conceits.' 

'  The  young  artist  became,  by  the  cancelling  of  his  indentures,  com- 
pletely his  own  master,  yet,  like  his  early  friend,  the  unfortunate  alchy- 
mist,  he  beheld  in  an  innocent  wife  a  supposed  impediment  to  every 
splendid  project.  Perhaps  the  example  of  a  friend,  whom  he  had 
tenderly  regarded,  might  influence  the  conduct  of  the  painter : 
at  all  events  he  resolved  instead  of  settling,  as  a  family  man,  to 
wander  forth  alone  into  the  distant  world  in  quest  of  professional 
adventures.' 

It  is  hardly  surprising  that  Hayley's  statement  of  the  case  should 
be  questioned  by  John  Romney ;  and  the  indignation  he  displayed  in 
defending  both  his  parents  from  what  he  considered  to  be  gross 
aspersions  was  quite  natural  under  the  circumstances.  '  I  have  not  a 
shadow  of  doubt  of  the  sincerity  of  his  intentions,'  he  wrote,  '  and  he 
expressly  declared  to  her  at  parting,  that  the  great  object  he  had  in 
view,  was,  to  be  enabled  to  support  her  and  his  family  with  respecta- 
bility in  London.  When  people  are  sanguine,  they  never  calculate 
difficulties  ;  otherwise,  they  might  have  foreseen  that  much  time,  under 
any  ordinary  circumstances,  must  elapse  before  he  could  be  able  to 
realize  his  intentions.  As  Mrs.  Romney  was  a  woman  of  an  energetic 
and  courageous  mind,  I  often  wondered,  and  once  took  the  liberty  to 
ask  her,  why  she  suffered  herself  to  be  separated  from  her  husband  ? 
She  said,  she  did  everything  for  the  best.  Mr.  Hayley,  however, 
with  a  feeling  that  ill  accords  with  friendship,  has  insinuated  that  Mr. 
Romney,  in  thus  withdrawing  from  his  family,  was  acting  upon  a  plan 
of  preconceived  and  deliberate  abandonment.  This  is  so  manifest  a 
calumny  that  it  is  almost  unnecessary  to  confute  it.  It  is  in  opposition 
to  the  most  powerful  instincts  of  our  nature.  It  is  quite  improbable 
that  a  father,  who  was  so  capable  of  enjoying,  as  well  as  of  delineating 
the  playfulness  and  vivacity  of  children  in  general,  could  have  been  so 
260 


HIS  TREATMENT   OF  HIS  WIFE 


insensible  to  the  same  qualities  in  his  own,  who  were  not,  as  1  have 
understood,  deficient  in  the  graces  and  charms  of  infancy,  as  deliberately 
to  cast  them  off,  and  to  abandon  them  for  ever.  As  a  proof  that  he 
entertained  no  such  intention,  he  came  twice  afterwards  to  see  his 
wife. 

•  The  best  way  to  ascertain  the  true  character  of  a  man's  actions,  is, 
to  weigh  his  motives.  As  Mr.  Romney  had  resolution  to  forego  the 
endearments  of  domestic  life  for  the  noble  purpose  of  providing  for  the 
future  welfare  of  his  family ;  his  motives  were  certainly  good,  and 
would  justify  his  separation  in  the  first  instance.' 

After  explaining  why  he  felt  obliged,  in  spite  of  his  repugnance  to 
touch  upon  the  topic  at  all,  to  correct  Hayley  s  errors  and  misrepresen- 
tations, and  giving  the  bard,  in  the  course  of  these  explanations,  a 
shrewd  knock  or  two  with  regard  to  his  own  marital  failings,  he  goes 
on  to  say  : — 

'  Why  Mr.  Romney  never  realized  his  professions  to  his  wife,  may 
be  otherwise  accounted  for,  than  attributing  it  to  the  ungenerous 
motives  imputed  by  Mr.  Hayley.  From  the  very  first,  his  brothers 
became  a  heavy  burthen  to  him  and  drained  him  of  his  savings.  He 
deemed  it  necessary,  also,  in  order  to  promote  his  professional  views, 
first  to  visit  Paris,  and  at  a  subsequent  period,  Rome:  which  peregrina- 
tions consumed  all  the  money  he  could  raise  on  those  respective  occa- 
sions :  thus  a  succession  of  untoward  circumstances  threw  impediments 
in  the  way  of  good  intent,  till  time  and  absence  became  impediments 
also.  Besides,  when  Mr.  Romney  first  went  to  London  and  began  to 
associate  with  the  young  artists  of  the  day,  he,  from  a  sort  of  reserve 
peculiar  to  himself,  did  not  communicate  the  circumstance  of  his 
marriage ;  and  by  investing  it,  as  it  were,  with  a  kind  of  secrecy,  only 
increased  his  repugnance  to  divulge  it ;  till,  at  length,  by  becoming  an 
object  of  fear,  the  transition  would  be  easy  to  that  of  dislike; — Quod 
timemus  odimus.' 

He  then  suggests  that  a  further  cause  of  estrangement  may  have 
been  that  Romney,  though  his  ruling  passion  was  the  love  of  art,  and 
not  the  desire  for  money,  could  not  help  contrasting  his  lot  with  that 
of  two  of  his  contemporaries,  Nathaniel  Dance  and  John  Astley,  both 
of  whom  had  married  rich  widows ;  but  this  seems  ridiculous,  and  not 
at  all  in  keeping  with  Romney 's  character. 

'  Perhaps  nothing  contributed  more  to  confirm  him  in  habits  of 
estrangement  from  his  wife  than  the  society  of  Mr.  Hayley,  who  had 
the  greatest  influence  over  his  affections  and  feelings.    As,  however, 

261 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Mr.  Romney's  transgressions  arose  in  the  first  place  out  of  the  necessity 
of  his  circumstances,  and  only  stole  into  his  habits  and  modes  of  life 
by  the  slow  process  of  time ;  they  ought  not  to  be  visited  with  that 
severity  of  censure  which  would  attach  to  direct  abandonment.  It  is 
much  to  be  regretted  that  so  unfortunate  a  circumstance  should  have 
cast  a  shade  upon  his  character — illustrious  by  the  splendour  of  his 
genius,  and  estimable  for  many  private  virtues.' 

No  one  has  summed  up  Romney's  character  better  than  Mr.  Sidney 
Colvin,  in  a  series  of  papers  entitled  '  From  Rigaud  to  Reynolds  :  char- 
acteristics of  French  and  English  Painting  in  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury,' contributed  to  the  Portfolio  in  1873.  What  he  has  to  say  about 
the  painter  is  severe  but  true. 

4  There  are  some  men,'  he  says,  '  upon  whom,  as  they  go  about  the 
business  of  their  lives,  you  seem  to  see  the  mark  of  that  which  the  old 
cabalists  meant  when  they  spoke  of  a  man  as  having  been  born  under 
the  influence  of  the  Moon.  The  Moon  was  the  planet  which  made  the 
imagination  of  a  man  his  master.  To  have  no  Moon  in  your  composi- 
tion was  to  have  no  play  of  imagination,  no  capacity  for  waking 
dreams.  But  to  have  too  much  Moon  was  to  dream  awake  all  your 
days.  It  was  to  want  both  perseverance  and  the  sense  of  reality ;  it 
was  to  have  a  teeming  brain  and  a  seething  fantasy ;  it  was  to  propose 
a  thousand  things,  and  always  to  let  yourself  be  called  off  by  the  next 
thing  from  your  endeavour  to  execute  the  last.  The  man  whose  Moon 
lorded  it  over  his  other  planets  would  be  one  sure  of  the  goal  at  start- 
ing, who  should  drop  out  of  the  race  before  the  end  ;  he  would  think 
great  deeds,  but  not  achieve  them  ;  he  would  entertain  a  poet  in  his 
bosom,  but  produce  none  before  the  world  ;  he  would  woo,  but  not 
win  perfection  ;  he  would  be  always  doing  and  desisting,  and  not  be 
able  to  tell  you  why ;  he  would  love,  and  break  off  without  a  cause ; 
be  loved,  and  plague  himself  with  the  assurance  of  coldness ;  he  would 
be  rich,  and  in  dread  of  bankruptcy  ;  robust,  and  talk  about  his  ensu- 
ing death.  Pray  for  him  that  the  other  planets  may  put  forth  their 
influence,  may  steady  and  regulate  the  Moon  in  him  as  he  grows  older, 
or  you  shall  see  him  end  his  days  in  ineffectiveness,  disappointment, 
and  perhaps  despair. 

'Nearly  such  a  man  was  the  painter  Romney.  Look  at  his 
portraits  of  himself,  and  trace  their  type  according  to  the  reading  of 
cabalists — the  lateral  expansion  above  the  temples,  the  wide  shape  of 
the  head  which  indicates  straggling  and  not  concentrated  powers; 
the  extended  impressionable  mouth,  all  poignant  sensibility  and  no 
262 


HIS  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE 


determined  continuousness  of  effort ;  everything  mobile  and  wan- 
dering except  only  the  eyes ;  those  are  an  artist's  eyes,  and  do  settle 
themselves  to  observe  you  with  the  fixity  and  penetration  of  the 
artistic  habit.  And  the  look  of  straggling  and  mobility,  the  look  of 
ambition  without  fixity  and  without  self-confidence,  the  look  of  dis- 
trust in  the  midst  of  fire  and  eagerness,  and  of  a  sensitiveness  with 
no  strength  for  its  own  control,  increase  instead  of  diminishing  with 
age.' 

Again,  in  speaking  of  Romney's  long  absence  from  his  wife: — '  In 
truth,  Hay  ley's  account  of  the  matter  is  the  more  probable  one.  It  is 
true  that  Romney's  sensibilities  were  in  their  way  exquisite ;  but  they 
were  not  the  sensibilities  of  conscience ;  and  true,  as  Hayley  is 
perpetually  insisting,  that  his  heart  was  tender,  but  it  was  not  with 
the  tenderness  of  constancy.  Hayley  is  a  shrewder  man  than  he 
seems  beneath  his  maudlin  volubility.  .  .  .  He  is  not  unacquainted 
with  the  nature  of  those  fantastical  motives,  those  motiveless  sequences 
and  revulsions  of  impulse,  those  groundless  inferences  passing  into 
aimless  acts,  which  make  up  the  tissue  of  a  life  fatally  subject  to  the 
Moon  and  to  imagination.  He  surprises  you,  in  the  middle  of  pages 
of  amiable  grandiloquent  maunder  round  about  his  subject,  with  a 
sentence  here  and  there  which  goes  to  the  centre  of  it.  He  points  a 
comparison  of  Romney  with  Hamlet,  and  another  of  Romney  with 
Rousseau,  which  show  a  greater  sense  both  of  literature  and  human 
nature  than  you  would  have  expected  from  one  whom  you  are  per- 
petually calling  plague  upon  to  yourself  as  a  driveller.  And  when  he 
accounts  for  what  common  sense  finds  unaccountable  in  Romney's 
conduct,  by  saying  that  his  was  "  a  mind  of  exquisite  sensibility  and 
towering  faculties,  but  unhappily  distracted  with  a  tumultuary  crowd 
of  ambitious  and  apprehensive  conceits,''  you  feel  that  his  grandi- 
loquence has  fairly  hit  it,  and  that  there  is  not  much  more  to 
be  said.' 

Hayley  is  the  only  one  of  his  contemporaries  who  has  left  us  an 
account  of  the  painter's  personal  appearance.  '  The  person  of  Romney,' 
he  says,  '  was  rather  tall,  his  features  were  broad  and  strong,  his  hair 
was  dark,  his  eyes  indicated  much  vigour,  and  still  more  acuteness  of 
mind.  The  feature  of  the  human  visage,  which  he  considered  as  the 
surest  index  of  the  heart,  was  in  his  own  countenance  very  remarkable. 
By  the  quick  or  tardy  movement  of  the  fibres  around  the  lips,  he  was 
accustomed  to  estimate  the  degrees  of  sensibility  in  his  sitters;  and  of 
himself,  in  this  particular,  it  might  have  been  said  with  truth, 

263 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


"  His  own  example  strengthens  all  his  laws  : 
He  is  himself,  the  sensitive  he  draws." 

For  his  heart  had  all  the  tenderness  of  nature ;  never  I  believe,  were 
the  lips  of  any  man  more  quick  to  quiver  with  emotions  of  generous 
pity  at  the  sight  of  distress,  or  at  the  relation  of  a  pathetic  story.  His 
feelings  indeed  were  perilously  acute.  They  made  him  a  man  of 
many  frailties,  but  the  primary  characteristic  of  his  nature  was  that 
true  christian  charity,  which  more  than  compensates  for  manifold 
imperfections.' 

There  are  several  portraits  of  Romney  in  existence  from  his  own 
hand,  slight  unfinished  sketches  for  the  most  part,  over  which  he  spent 
little  time  or  labour.  In  this  respect  he  differed  from  Reynolds  and 
Gainsborough,  who  left  behind  them  some  fine  examples  of  self- 
portraiture.  Only  in  one  instance  did  he  attempt  an  important  picture 
of  himself,  and  even  this  might  have  perished  among  the  stacks  of 
discarded  and  incomplete  canvases  at  Hampstead,  if  Hayley  had  not 
prudently  insisted  on  keeping  it  at  Eartham,  when  Romney  returned 
to  town,  instead  of  allowing  him  to  take  it  with  him,  as  the  artist 
Avanted,  to  finish  it  at  leisure. 

This  is  the  powerful  study  in  oils,  in  which  the  head  is  almost 
complete,  now  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery,  the  painting  of  which 
has  been  already  described,  which  reveals  his  character  both  in  its 
strength  and  weakness  far  better  than  it  is  possible  to  do  by  means  of 
written  words.  It  displays  deeper  insight  into  the  intricacies  of  the 
human  mind  than  is  to  be  found  in  many  of  his  representations  of 
men.  It  is  the  portrait  of  a  dreamer,  and  one  whose  dreams  are  by 
no  means  always  happy  ones,  and  it  gives  glimpses  of  a  soul  at 
times  tortured  by  imaginary  fears,  and  of  a  nature  easily  moved  to 
emotion.    (See  Plate  xi.) 

An  interesting  portrait,  said  to  be  of  Romney  by  himself,  was 
added  to  the  Sala  dei  Pittori  in  the  Uffizi  Gallery  in  1905,  from  the 
collection  of  the  Hon.  Walter  Rothschild.  Mr.  Lawrence  Romney, 
who  has  examined  it  in  Florence,  considers  it  to  be  a  good  and  genuine 
early  work  of  his,  but  is  not  quite  satisfied  that  it  is  a  portrait  of 
Romney  himself,  though  certainly  of  a  member  of  the  Romney  family, 
possibly  one  of  the  painter's  brothers.  The  hair  is  quite  fair,  but 
both  Hayley  and  Allan  Cunningham  say  that  Romney 's  hair  was 
dark  ;  and  the  eyes  do  not  look  the  keen,  dark  eyes  of  Romney. 
Whoever  it  may  be,  it  was  probably  painted  soon  after  his  arrival  in 
London.  There  is  little  use  in  it  of  Indian  red,  a  colour  of  which  he 
264 


PLATE  LI  I! 


MRS.  JOSIAH  WEDGWOOD 

IN   THE  COLLECTION  OF  MISS  WEDGWOOD 


PLATE  LIV 


MRS.  TOWNLEY  WARD 

IN  THE  COLLECTION   OF  LORD  ALUENH  AM 

Page  327 


THE  PORTRAIT   IN  THE  UFFIZI 

was  so  fond  in  later  years,  and  there  are  spotty  touches  of  light  red 
on  the  face.  It  is  a  half-length,  the  chin  held  between  the  finger 
and  thumb  of  the  right  hand,  which  is  well  painted,  and  opalescent 
high  lights  play  over  the  forehead,  nose,  and  the  back  of  the  hand. 
It  was  reproduced  in  The  Connoisseur  for  September  1905,  p.  50. 


2G5 


XXI 


HIS  habits  and  methods  of  work,  when  at  the  height  of  his 
career  as  a  portrait  painter,  have  been  best  described  by  his 
pupil,  Thomas  Robinson,  of  Windermere,  who  was  with  him 
about  the  year  1785.  Robinson  set  down  his  recollections  on  paper 
many  years  afterwards  for  the  use  of  Hayley,  when  the  latter  was 
preparing  his  Life  of  the  artist. 

'  The  manner,  in  which  Mr.  Romney  spent  the  day,  when  alone, 
during  the  time  I  remained  in  his  house.  He  generally  rose  between 
seven  and  eight  o'clock,  and  walked  to  Grays  Inn  to  breakfast;  on 
his  return,  while  his  servant  was  dressing  his  hair,  he  was  employed  on 
some  drawing,  with  which  he  amused  himself  till  ten  o'clock,  the  hour 
at  which  he  always  had  a  sitter  appointed.  His  number  of  sitters  was 
three,  four,  and  sometimes  five.  At  noon  he  took  broth,  or  coffee, 
and  dined  at  four,  in  the  most  simple  manner ;  after  dinner  he  walked 
into  the  country,  and  always  had  his  sketch  book,  in  which  were  new 
thoughts  slightly  marked,  several  different  ways ;  on  his  return  home, 
he  had  again  recourse  to  his  port-folio,  and  amused  himself  with  the 
design,  he  had  worked  on  in  the  morning,  till  twelve  o'clock,  when  he 
retired  to  rest.  This  was  his  custom  without  any  variation,  except  it 
rained,  while  I  remained  with  him.  Some  of  those  sketches  have 
great  merit,  and  gave  me,  at  that  time,  a  greater  idea  of  his  genius, 
than  even  when  he  painted  :  he  certainly  had  an  idea  of  having  some 
of  them  engraved.  The  cartoons  in  black  chalk,  on  half  length 
canvas,  were  all  designed  at  night ;  and  at  one  time  he  had  an  idea  of 
painting  in  oil  colours  by  candle-light,  and  was  at  considerable  expence 
for  reflectors  ;  but  it  did  not  answer  his  expectation.  Amusements  he 
had  none,  but  what  related  to  his  profession,  or  in  the  company  of  his 
particular  friends.  In  his  painting  room  he  seemed  to  have  the  highest 
enjoyment  of  life,  and  the  more  he  painted,  the  greater  flow  of  spirits 
he  acquired. 

4  His  pencil  was  uncommonly  rapid  and  to  see  him  introduce  the 
266 


HIS  METHODS  OF  WORK 


back  ground  into  one  of  his  large  pictures,  was  something  like  enchant- 
ment. He  was  very  anxious  concerning  the  preparation  of  his  colours  ; 
the  arrangement  of  his  flesh-palette  was  very  curious  and  simple,  and 
in  some  of  his  figures  particularly  in  the  arms,  it  is  easy  to  trace  the 
different  gradations  of  tints,  as  they  stood  on  the  palette.  This  may 
be  observed  in  his  most  delicate  flesh,  particularly  in  the  arms  of  a 
Bacchante,  with  a  dog,  sent  to  Sir  William  Hamilton,  at  Naples ;  in 
his  Serena  in  the  boat;  in  the  left  arm  of  Mr.  Henderson,  in  the 
character  of  Macbeth  :  this  last  was  the  most  finished  of  all  his  flesh 
colour,  and  he  told  me  he  could  go  no  farther.  At  this  period  (1785) 
his  pictures  were  highly  glazed,  and  though  they  have  more  effect, 
want  the  delicacy  of  his  former  style,  which  may  be  found  in  the  half 
whole  length  of  Wortley  Montague,  and  in  the  Euphrosyne  from 
Milton's  Allegro  :  the  foot  of  the  last  he  thought  nearer  to  nature 
than  any  thing  he  had  ever  painted.  The  head  of  Creon's  daughter  is 
less  finished  than  any  other  from  the  same  lady;1  the  child  is  very 
fine ;  the  drapery  was  painted  in  an  hour,  from  a  living  model,  which 
manner  he  preferred  whenever  he  could  accomplish  it.  The  Lions 
were  by  Gilpin,  and  the  picture  was  purchased  by  Admiral  Vernon. 
Perhaps  the  girl  spinning  is  the  best  picture  he  painted  at  this  period, 
he  first  caught  the  idea  from  observing  a  cobler's  wife  sitting  in  a  stall. 
Mr.  Curwen  told  me  he  gave  two  hundred  guineas  for  it.  Saint  Cecilia 
was  the  most  laboured  of  all  his  pieces.  His  portrait  of  Lord  Thur- 
low  he  esteemed  as  his  best.  The  youngest  son  of  Sir  John  Trevelyan 
studied  under  Mr.  Romney  for  a  short  time,  but  died  suddenly.  Mr. 
Romney  painted  a  number  of  portraits  for  this  family.  He  began  a 
whole  length  of  Mrs.  Siddons,  and  I  once  told  him,  the  picture  was 
greatly  admired,  and  thought  to  be  superior  to  that  by  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  ;  he  said — "  the  people  know  nothing  of  the  matter,  for  it  is 
not."  He  has  been  misrepresented  by  young  artists,  as  a  person,  who 
would  not  lend  any  pictures,  or  give  any  instructions.  This  had  no 
foundation  in  truth,  for  the  fact  was,  that  he  was  pleased  with  any 
request  of  this  nature,  but  he  was  often  applied  to  for  pictures  that  he 
could  not  lend ;  yet  he  always  offered  some  other,  that,  if  the  artist 
only  wanted  to  improve  himself,  was  more  for  his  purpose.' 

His  son's  account  of  his  methods  of  work  shortly  after  his  return 
from  Italy  is  of  great  interest  and  well  worth  quotation.  '  After  he 
had  relinquished  this  picture,'2  he  writes,  'he  began  to  make  designs 
in  chalks,  sometimes  upon  a  scale  as  large  as  life ;  and  innumerable 

1  Lady  Hamilton.  2  '  The  Accusation  of  Susannah  by  the  two  Elders.' 

267 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


studies  for  his  portfolio  :  thus  he  was  generally  occupied  till  bed-time. 
During  spring  he  often  worked  thirteen  hours  a  day,  commencing 
at  eight,  or  earlier,  and,  except  when  engaged  out,  which  was  not 
frequently,  prolonging  his  application  till  eleven  at  night. 

'  He  mostly  painted  a  gentleman's  three-quarters  portrait  in  three 
or  four  sittings ;  especially,  if  no  hands  were  introduced.  The  first 
sitting  was  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  the  other  two  about  an  hour  and 
a  half  each ;  and  if  another  was  required,  it  did  not  exceed  three 
quarters  of  an  hour.  During  the  spring  months  he  frequently  had  five 
sitters  a  day,  and  occasionally  even  six.  The  only  time  he  had  for 
painting  fancy-subjects,  was  in  the  intervals  between  the  sitters,  or 
when  they  disappointed  him ;  and  having  a  canvass  at  hand,  he  often 
regarded  such  a  disappointment,  as  a  schoolboy  would  a  holiday. 
The  finishing,  however,  of  his  portraits  required  these  intervals ;  but, 
being  a  less  pleasing  occupation,  it  was  too  frequently  postponed. 
This  in  some  measure  accounts  both  for  his  unfinished  portraits,  and 
his  fancy-pieces,  which,  being  put  aside  in  haste,  were  either  forgotten, 
or  mislaid.  There  were,  however,  other  co-operating  causes  which 
contributed  to  increase  the  number  of  both.' 

Any  small  annoyance,  such  as  the  defection  or  loss  of  a  model,  or 
the  inability  to  procure  some  property  to  be  introduced  into  the  com- 
position, was  sufficient  to  cause  the  easily-discouraged  artist  to  lay 
aside  his  canvas,  even  when  the  work  had  been  carried  well  towards 
completion,  and  never  to  take  it  up  again.  John  Romney  mentions 
several  instances  of  this.  In  one  case  a  small  child,  the  son  of  a 
guardsman,  who  had  served  as  the  nude  model  for  several  pictures, 
among  them  the  '  Shakespeare  nursed  by  Tragedy  and  Comedy,'  '  The 
Infant  Shakespeare  attended  by  the  Passions,'  and  '  Alope,'  unfor- 
tunately died  when  Romney  was  at  work  upon  a  '  Group  of  Children 
in  a  Boat  drifting  out  to  Sea,'  with  the  nurse  on  the  beach  in  distress, 
and,  as  a  consequence,  this  picture,  which  promised  to  be  a  very 
delightful  one,  was  abandoned.  At  the  sale  of  the  artist's  effects  after 
his  death  the  unfinished  canvas  was  bought  by  John  Hoppner.1  Upon 
another  occasion  the  dismissal  of  a  page  boy  for  some  misdemeanour 
brought  to  an  abrupt  conclusion  an  essay  in  the  manner  of  Gains- 
borough— '  A  Shepherd  Boy  asleep  watched  by  his  Dog  at  the  approach 
of  a  thunderstorm.'  Another  picture  of  this  class — 'A  Young  Girl 
sorrowing  over  a  Fawn  just  killed  by  Lightning,'  was  left  unfinished 
through  the  lack  of  the  necessary  animal  for  a  model.    This  canvas, 

1  See  pages  232  and  .35-4. 

2G8 


ACCUMULATIONS   OF  UNFINISHED  WORK 


which  had  been  carried  to  a  state  of  great  forwardness,  was  given  to 
Hayley,  who  never  had  any  hesitation  in  accepting,  and  little  in 
demanding,  numerous  examples  of  his  friend's  skill.  Still  a  third 
picture  of  this  class,  which  represented  '  Two  young  girls  in  great 
distress  in  consequence  of  a  She-Goat  having  overturned  their  milk- 
pail  in  its  impatience  to  approach  its  Kid  in  their  possession,'  was 
placed  with  its  face  to  the  wall,  through  lack  of  a  goat.  Another 
picture  mentioned  by  his  son — '  Nature  unveiling  herself  to  Shake- 
speare ' 1 — suggested  by  some  lines  of  Gray  in  his  Progress  of  Poesy, 
remained  unfinished,  and  perished  in  the  wreck  of  his  works  at 
Hampstead — though  in  this  case  the  same  idea  was  carried  out 
to  completeness  in  '  The  Infant  Shakespeare  attended  by  the 
Passions.' 

'  I  could  enumerate  many  other  unfinished  fancy-pieces  in  all  stages 
of  progress,'  his  son  continues,  'which,  from  divers  impeding  causes, 
were  suffered  to  accumulate  in  every  corner  of  the  house  :  no  picture, 
however,  was  ever  set  aside  from  any  difficulty  in  the  art  itself;  it  was 
always  occasioned  by  some  extraneous  circumstance  which  prevented 
his  progress  at  the  time.  I  could  also  mention  several  other  causes 
which  contributed  to  produce  those  vast  heaps  of  unfinished  portraits 
that  obstructed  the  passage  to  his  gallery.  The  chief  were  the  poverty 
or  meanness  of  the  parties  to  whom  the  pictures  belonged  ;  which 
might,  however,  have  been  obviated  had  Mr.  Romney  enforced 
the  first  payment :  several  finished  pictures  were  likewise  abandoned 
for  the  same  reasons.'  Another  cause  which  helped  to  swell  this 
accumulation  of  unfinished  work  was  the  custom  the  wealthier  men  of 
fashion  had  of  taking  their  mistresses  to  sit  for  their  portraits  ;  and  it 
sometimes  happened  that  the  lady  was  deserted,  or  that  she  had  left 
her  lover  for  a  richer  gallant,  before  the  likeness  was  finished.  In  such 
cases  the  new  cavalier  did  not  want  the  portrait,  and  the  old  one  had 
no  desire  to  pay  for  it — so  that  the  artist  suffered  loss  both  in  time 
and  money. 

In  other  instances  lack  of  money  or  mere  caprice  left  commissions 
on  his  hands.  The  full-length  portrait  of  Lord  Amelius  Beauclerk, 
when  a  midshipman,  which  was  finished  except  for  the  background, 
remained  in  the  artist's  keeping  for  twenty  years,  and  was  knocked 
down  at  his  sale  for  the  price  of  an  old  song.  On  another  occasion  he 
painted  a  half  length  of  Isabella,  Duchess  of  Rutland,  dressed  in  black, 
seated  on  the  ground,  looking  upwards,  a  commission  received  from 

1  See  page  362. 

269 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


the  Duchess  of  Beaufort.  This,  too,  remained  unclaimed  in  his  studio 
for  some  ten  years,  when  the  lady  suddenly  called  again,  and  asked 
him  to  repaint  the  face,  so  that  it  might  be  more  in  accordance  with 
her  age.  Romney  expressed  his  readiness  to  do  this,  and  she  gave 
him  one  sitting — -but  never  returned,  so  that  the  picture  was  spoiled. 
Another  fine  lady  who  was  anxious  to  be  painted  by  him  was  the 
famous  Georgiana,  Duchess  of  Devonshire.  As  a  leader  of  fashion 
she  had  so  few  moments  to  devote  to  so  prosaic  an  amusement  as 
posing  to  an  artist,  that  she  only  came  three  times,  with  long  intervals 
between  each  visit.  On  each  occasion  Romney  began  a  new  picture, 
and  was  obliged  to  abandon  it.  '  The  last  time  she  sat,'  says  his  son, 
'  was  in  April,  1791,  for  a  kit-cat  portrait:  at  the  same  time,  also,  Lady 
Elizabeth  Foster  sat  for  her  portrait  of  the  same  size.  The  latter  was 
paid  for  by  Mr.  Crawfurd  and  sent  to  him,  and  I  should  suppose  will 
now  be  an  ornament  of  Devonshire  House.'1 

Cumberland  also  mentions  the  number  of  his  unfinished  portraits, 
attributing  their  accumulation  chiefly  to  the  painter's  own  habits. 
'  Of  his  portraits,'  he  writes,  '  it  would  be  an  endless  task  to  speak. 
They  are  every  where  to  be  found.  They  speak  sufficiently  to  his 
fame,  and  would  have  subscribed  much  more  effectually  to  his  fortune, 
had  he  not  suffered  his  unfinished  pictures  to  accumulate  and  lie  upon 
his  hands  to  a  most  unparalleled  extent.  Many  thousand  pounds  were 
thus  lost  in  the  course  of  his  business  from  want  of  method,  which  all 
the  remonstrances  of  his  friends  could  never  induce  him  to  adopt. 
There  is,  probably,  no  instance  in  the  art  of  so  much  canvass  covered, 
and  so  much  labour  wasted,  as  his  magazine  of  unfinished  paintings 
constantly  and  painfully  exhibited  ;  whilst  all  the  while  no  artist  living 
had  fewer  avocations,  or  more  unwearied  industry ;  and  though  he 
worked  with  wonderful  facility,  yet  he  would  suffer  many  of  his  best 
pictures  to  remain  wanting  only  a  few  touches  to  their  draperies  or 
backgrounds,  too  indolent  to  put  his  own  hand  to  what  he  felt  as  the 
drudgery  of  his  art,  and  too  conscientious  to  suffer  other  hands  to 
finish  for  him.' 

Romney  was  liberal,  and,  indeed,  generous,  in  painting  the  portraits 
of  his  friends  as  gifts,  and  put  his  best  work  into  them.  According  to 
his  son,  when  art  was  in  question,  money  was  always  a  secondary  object 
with  him.  '  His  prices  were  always  too  low,  and  it  was  only  with 
reluctance  that  he  could  at  any  time  be  prevailed  upon  by  his  friends 
to  raise  them  higher :  yet  had  he  done  so  in  a  greater  degree  and 

1  See  page  289. 

270 


HIS  PRICES  AND   CAPACITY  FOR  WORK 


painted  fewer  portraits,  it  would  not  only  have  added  to  his  reputation, 
but  increased  his  profits  also.' 

'  In  1786  he  painted  portraits  to  the  amount  in  value  of  three 
thousand  five  hundred  and  four  guineas,  when  his  price  was  only 
twenty  guineas  for  a  three-quarters.1  This  excess  of  employment 
induced  him  to  raise  his  prices  to  twenty  five  guineas,  but  had  he 
raised  it  to  thirty,  it  would  not  have  occasioned  any  diminution  of 
sitters.  Immediately  on  his  return  from  Italy,  he  commenced  with 
fifteen  guineas  for  a  three-quarters,  but  soon  raised  it  to  eighteen,  which 
he  continued  till  1781.  From  the  beginning  of  which  year  to  January, 
1787,  he  had  twenty ;  from  this  to  October,  1789,  twenty  five ;  and 
from  1789  to  1793  his  price  was  thirty  guineas,  when  he  advanced  it 
to  thirty  five  guineas.  The  price  of  a  half-length  was  double  that  of 
a  three-quarters,  and  a  whole-length  double  that  of  a  half-length,  and 
the  intermediate  sizes  charged  accordingly.' 

When  in  the  country  Romney  worked  just  as  hard  as  he  did  in 
town.  He  himself  acknowledged,  in  one  of  his  letters,  that  he  went 
into  Sussex,  not  to  play,  but  to  labour.  '  In  the  time  that  he  passed 
with  me  in  the  early  years  of  our  intimacy,'  remarks  his  host,  'when 
his  muscular  strength  was  entire,  I  was  both  astonished  and  enlivened 
by  the  chearful  ardour,  and  persevereance  of  his  application.  I  may 
truly  say,  that  labour  was  his  delight.' 

No  sooner  had  he  arrived  at  Eartham  than  he  set  Hayley  hunting 
through  his  library  for  subjects  for  pictures,  for  which,  as  soon  as  they 
were  found,  he  began  a  multitude  of  sketches  on  paper  and  canvas. 
On  one  occasion  he  took  back  to  London  no  less  than  twenty  very 
promising  beginnings  of  pictures  in  oil,  not  one  of  which  was  ever 
finished.  Hayley  tells  how  he  captured  one  of  these  years  afterwards 
— the  first  suggestion  of  the  Fairy  Queen  and  her  attendants,  from 
Shakespeare — which  turned  up  unexpectedly  when  Romney  was  clear- 
ing out  a  perfect  chaos  of  canvases  in  Cavendish  Square  on  the  eve  of 
his  departure  for  his  new  house  at  Hampstead.  '  It  was  a  misfortune 
to  him,'  says  Hayley,  '  that  he  had  such  an  eagerness  to  accumulate  an 
enormous  stock  of  materials  for  future  works,  that  he  might  have  said 
in  the  quaint  expression  of  Ovid — 

"  His  plenty  made  him  poor." 

And  he  fell  at  last,  like  a  Titan  overwhelmed  by  the  mountainous 
fragments,  that  he  had  piled  upon  himself.' 

1  See  page  51,  note. 

271 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


At  Eartham  he  usually  painted  or  drew  all  morning,  while  Hayley 
put  aside  his  own  work  in  order  to  read  aloud  to  him ;  from  such 
works,  among  others,  as  Vasari's  Lives  of  the  Painters  or  the  writings 
of  Raphael  Mengs. 

Romney  was  an  extraordinarily  rapid  worker,  and  while  his  powers 
were  at  maturity  his  daily  average  of  sitters  was  more  often  five  than 
three ;  indeed,  so  great  was  his  popularity,  and  so  swift  his  hand,  that 
he  may  be  said  to  have  painted  almost  at  the  rate  of  one  portrait  each 
day.  So  close  was  his  application  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  working 
on  Sundays  also,  though  not  at  portrait  painting.  The  clerical  mind 
of  John  Romney  looked  upon  this  disregard  of  the  day  of  rest  with 
keen  disapprobation,  tempered  by  a  filial  affection  which  caused  him 
to  attempt  to  make  the  best  of  matters  by  suggesting  that  if  a  painter 
were  to  confine  himself  to  subjects  taken  from  the  Scriptures  his  action 
might  be  no  more  morally  wrong  than  that  of  a  clergyman  writing 
a  sermon !  He  also  gives  two  instances,  which  came  under  his  personal 
notice,  of  his  father's  rapidity  of  painting.  In  one,  the  portrait  of 
a  young  man  named  Pelham,  represented  as  resting  on  a  bank  when 
out  shooting,  Romney  painted  a  brace  of  dead  partridges  in  half  an 
hour.  '  They  are  done  in  a  dashing,  and  apparently  slovenly  style ; 
but  when  seen  at  a  proper  distance,  and  in  accordance  with  the  general 
effect,  the  deception  becomes  so  perfect,  that  one  might  almost  be 
tempted  to  go  and  take  them  up.'  The  second  case  he  mentions  is 
that  of  the  portrait,  already  described,1  of  the  beautiful  Miss  Shakespeare 
whom  Romney  painted  before  her  marriage  to  Mr.  Oliver,  afterwards 
adding  to  the  canvas  the  portrait  of  her  baby,  which  he  dashed  in 
in  half  an  hour.  This  picture  was  sold  at  Christie's  in  1896  for 
3100  guineas. 

To  these  instances  of  rapid  workmanship  may  be  added  the  portrait 
of  his  son,  which  he  painted  in  '  his  bold  and  spirited  manner,'  in  1794, 
in  a  couple  of  sittings  of  an  hour  and  a  half  each,  on  a  30  x  25  canvas, 
which  was  sold  at  Christie's  exactly  one  hundred  years  later  for 
250  guineas. 

When  Romney  had  carefully  thought  out  a  picture,  so  that  he 
could  see  every  detail  of  it,  '  he  had  a  happy  facility  of  rapidly  trans- 
ferring it  to  the  canvass  while  the  impression  was  still  strong  on  his 
imagination.  He  would  make  a  sketch  of  this  kind  in  oil  colours,  upon 
a  half-length  canvass,  in  less  than  an  hour :  in  which  the  effect  of  light 
and  shade,  the  harmony  of  colouring,  the  composition  of  the  figures, 

1  See  page  135. 

272 


HIS  PALETTE 


and  even  the  drawing  and  expression,  to  a  certain  degree,  would  be 
given  at  once,  as  it  were  by  magic,  in  the  most  bold  and  dashing 
manner.  If  a  sitter  had  disappointed  him,  he  would  sometimes  take 
a  waste  canvass  and  accomplish  one  of  these  sketches  before  the  next 
came.  ...  It  is  remarkable  that  he  never  made  finished  drawings  for 
his  pictures  ;  he  only  designed  the  general  idea  and  effect,  and  executed 
the  minor  parts  when  he  painted  the  picture.  He  sometimes  even 
painted  directly  from  invention,  but  never  with  a  copy  placed  before 
him.' 1 

In  the  painting  of  flesh,  Romney's  palette,  as  Robinson  noted,  was 
curiously  simple.  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower,  in  his  recently 
published  Life  of  the  painter,  has  included  among  his  illustrations  a 
reproduction  of  a  sketch  by  Romney  of  his  own  palette  set  ready  for 
painting.  The  colours,  which  are  few,  run  as  follows :  '  yellow  and 
white;  gray,  almost  white;  white  and  a  little  vermillion  ;  do.,  more; 
do.,  more  ;  yellow  oker,  vermillion  and  white  ;  yellow  oker  ;  vermillion  ; 
yellow  oker  and  black  and  white ;  yellow  oker  and  black,  vermillion 
and  black  ;  lake  ;  Terra  Siena  brown  ;  black  ;  vermillion  ;  yellow  oker  ; 
vermillion,  black  and  white;  do. ;  gray;  do.  ;  and  white,  light  yellow.' 
A  note  at  the  top  of  the  sketch  says — '  Black  and  Terra  Siena  and  blue 
makes  a  (very  fine  ?)  colour.' 

Much  as  he  disliked  the  grinding  of  colours,  sometimes  for  hours  at 
a  time,  which  he  had  to  do  when  he  was  Steele's  pupil,  the  experience 
was  of  real  service  to  him  in  his  future  practice.  He  made  use  of 
Indian  red  in  a  number  of  his  portraits,  a  fine  colour,  but  apt  to  result 
in  hot  and  '  bricky '  tones  if  not  managed  with  great  skill,  as  is  easily 
to  be  seen  in  some  of  his  less  successful  pictures.  His  pupil  Lonsdale 
attempted  to  imitate  him  in  his  use  of  this  colour,  often  with  poor 
results,  as  in  the  portrait  of  Sir  Philip  Francis  and  others  in  the 
National  Portrait  Gallery. 

Romney's  somewhat  imperious  ways  with  his  sitters,  and  his 
dilatoriness  in  finishing  commissions,  are  well  and  amusingly  described 
in  the  correspondence  of  Lady  Newdigate,  the  second  wife  of  Sir 
Roger  Newdigate,  fourth  baronet,  of  Arbury,  the  founder  of  the 
Newdigate  Prize  at  Oxford.  She  was  one  of  the  Mundys  of  Derby- 
shire, a  voluminous  letter-writer,  very  musical,  and  attractive  both  in 
looks  and  disposition. 

In  1790,  Lady  Newdigate  went  up  to  London  to  sit  to  Romney 
for  her  full-length  portrait.    Sir  Roger  also  sat  to  him.    The  painter 

1  John  Romney,  p.  129. 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


lingered  for  several  years  over  the  work,  and  the  pictures  were  not 
sent  down  to  Arbury  until  1794.  In  one  of  her  letters  to  her 
husband  she  says : — 

'  Monday — I  am  vastly  well,  and  Mr.  Barton,  who  came  to  town 
last  night,  complimts  my  looks  greatly,  so  T  hope  Mr.  Romney  will 
like  me  to-morrow.  They  are  all  mightily  dissatisfy 'd  with  my 
Picture,  but  as  you  think  you  shall  like  it  they  shall  not  make 
him  do  it  again,  unless  Lady  Templetown  and  Romney  himself 
wish  it.' 

'  Wednesday — My  Picture  is  still  too  young  and  too  handsome,  but 
I  fancy  you  will  like  it.  Romney  thinks  he  shall  be  satisfy  d  with 
one  sitting  from  you,  but  tells  me  I  must  supply  your  place  on 
Tuesday. ' 

And  again  three  days  later :  '  A  note  from  Romney  to  desire  me 
to  dress  myself  in  a  white  Sattin  before  I  come  to  him  to-day ;  I  have 
no  such  thing  in  town,  must  get  my  head  dress'd  in  haste  and  drive  to 
Pic,1  and  borrow  a  Gown,  which  I  shall  not  be  able  to  get  into.' 
Later  in  the  same  day  she  adds :  '  4  o'clock, — Lady  T.  was  faithless 
and  never  came  to  me,  but  my  sisters  approve  ye  figure  and  attitude, 
which  was  ye  business  to-day.  The  Borrow'd  Gown  won't  satisfy 
him,  he  insists  upon  my  having  a  rich  white  Sattin  with  a  long 
train  made  by  Tuesday,  and  to  have  it  left  with  him  all  summer.  It 's 
ye  oddest  thing  I  ever  knew,  but  I  dare  not  disobey  him  as  you  are 
not  here  to  support  me.'  On  the  following  Monday  she  writes :  '  I 
have  got  a  white  Gown  for  Mr.  Romney  to-morrow.' 

The  portrait  was  a  long  time  on  hand.  She  was  still  sitting 
to  him  in  London  two  years  later,  and  writes  to  Sir  Roger  as 
follows : — 

'  I  finish'd  yesterday  in  an  anxious  minute.  You  will  not  disapprove 
that  I  wd  not  let  Romney  fix  all  that  Care  upon  my  Brow.  I  am 
appointed  by  Romney  at  12  o'clock.  Lady  Templetown  and  Mrs.  C. 
Cotton  are  to  meet  me.  If  the  former  dislikes  my  Countenance  he 
shall  do  nothing  to  ye  face,  for  ye  last  Sitting  was  thought  to 
improve  me. 

'  4  o'clock — Romney  kept  me  two  hours  and  a  half.  Lady  T. 
was  there  almost  ye  whole  time.  1  read  to  them  your  directions  which 
they  seem  perfectly  to  Comprehend  and  approve.  Romney  cannot 
part  with  ye  drawings  till  ye  pictures  are  quite  finish'd,  but  promises 
to  take  care  of  them.    I  fancy  I  call'd  up  very  good  looks  to-day ; 

1  Her  brother's  house  in  Piccadilly. 

274 


PLATE  LV 


MRS.  MAXWELL 

IN    THE  COLLECTION  OF  MR.   CHARLES  J.  WERTHE1MER 

Page  327 


THEjiMARGRAVINE  OF  ANSPACH 

IN   THE  COLLECTION   OF  LADY  o'HAGAN 

Pares  ?27~£ 


PORTRAIT  OF  LADY  NEWDIGATE 


where  they  came  from  I  don't  know,  but  my  Picture  is  certainly  much 
improv'd.  All  seem  satisfy 'd  with  it.  I  have  reason  to  be  so,  for  it 
is  handsomer  than  ever  I  was  in  my  life.' 

Lady  Templetown  wrote  to  Sir  Roger  about  it  from  Portland 
Place,  June  11th,  1792  :  — 

'  I  really  think  he  has  acquitted  himself  well  in  respect  to  Lady 
Newdigate.  The  character  of  the  face  is  well  preserved,  and  the 
hair  is  of  an  agreable  duskiness  that  is  neither  in  nor  out  of  powder, 
so  that  I  am  of  opinion  that  it  will  please  all  parties — not  that  I 
am  willing  to  make  this  compromise  in  order  to  give  up  our  little 
skirmishes  upon  the  subject,  and  which  I  shall  rejoice  in  any  oppor- 
tunity of  repeating.' 

This  portrait,  certainly  one  of  the  most  beautiful  full-lengths 
Romney  ever  produced,  remained  on  the  walls  of  Arbury  until  it  was 
lent  to  the  Birmingham  Art  Gallery  by  the  late  General  Newdigate- 
Newdegate  in  1900.  The  lady's  home,  Arbury,  is  the  scene  of  that 
pathetic  tale,  '  Mr.  GilnTs  Love  Story,'  in  George  Eliot's  Scenes  of 
Clerical  Life,  in  which  these  portraits  are  described.  In  it  Arbury 
is  called  Cheverel  Manor,  whilst  the  Sir  Christopher  and  Lady 
Cheverel  of  the  story  are  intended  to  represent  Sir  Roger  Newdigate 
and  his  second  wife. 

Unlike  the  majority  of  the  portrait  painters  of  his  day,  Romney 
was  in  the  habit  of  completing  all  parts  of  his  pictures,  including  the 
draperies  and  backgrounds,  with  his  own  hands,  and  very  rarely  made 
use  of  the  help  of  assistants  or  pupils.  An  occasional  pupil  worked 
in  his  studio,  and  he  was  generally  willing  to  give  practical  advice 
to  any  young  man  who  came  to  him  bent  on  studying  art ;  but  he 
founded  no  school  of  painting,  and  little  of  his  influence  can  be 
traced  in  the  work  of  the  men  who  immediately  followed  him. 

In  his  early  days  at  Kendal,  before  his  removal  to  London,  his 
brother  Peter  worked  under  him,  and,  according  to  John  Romney, 
Daniel  Gardner,  of  Kendal,  received  some  instruction  from  him  at 
this  time.  It  was  the  latter 's  mother,  Mrs.  Gardner,  a  sister  of  that 
Alderman  Redman  of  Kendal  who  followed  the  same  trade  as 
Romney 's  father,  and  had  business  connections  with  him,  who  was 
one  of  the  first  to  perceive  the  genius  of  the  young  painter,  and  the 
drawing  Romney  made  of  her  was,  according  to  the  same  authority, 
his  first  attempt  at  portraiture.  Daniel  Gardner  went  to  London 
early  in  life,  and  studied  in  the  Royal  Academy  Schools.  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  took  a  personal  interest  in  him,  and  he  became  a  fashion- 

275 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


able  painter  of  small  portraits  both  in  oil  and  crayons,  some  of  which 
were  engraved  in  mezzotint.  He  died  in  1805,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
five,  having  retired  from  practice  some  years  previously. 

Another  pupil  who  was  with  him  for  some  time  about  1785, 
when  he  was  painting  Lady  Hamilton  and  many  of  his  finest  portraits, 
was  Thomas  Robinson,  of  Windermere,  whose  description  of 
Romney's  habits  has  been  quoted.  Robinson  moved  to  Ireland  in 
1801,  and  settled  in  Belfast,  where  he  was  patronised  by  Dr.  Percy, 
Bishop  of  Dromore,  and  soon  became  well  known  as  a  portrait 
painter.  In  1808  he  removed  to  Dublin,  and  was  elected  president 
of  the  Society  of  Artists.  He  painted  landscapes  and  subject 
pictures  as  well  as  portraits.  His  4  Military  Procession  at  Belfast  in 
Honour  of  Lord  Nelson,'  is  in  the  Harbour  Office  in  that  city,  and 
a  large  painting  of  1  The  Giant's  Causeway '  was  disposed  of  by 
raffle,  while  his  '  Encounter  between  the  King's  Troops  and  Peasants 
at  Ballynahinch '  was  purchased  by  the  Marquis  of  Hertford.  A 
portrait  '  Group  at  Dromore  Palace  in  1807,'  from  his  brush,  was 
exhibited  by  Viscount  Bangor  at  the  Winter  Exhibition  of  the  Royal 
Hibernian  Academy  in  1902-1903.  He  died  in  1810.  Out  of 
affection  for  his  old  master  he  christened,  his  son  Thomas  Romney 
Robinson.  This  precocious  youth,  afterwards  celebrated  as  an 
astronomer  and  divine,  wrote  verses  at  a  very  early  age,  including  an 
'  Eulogy  upon  Romney '  for  Hayley's  book,  which  was  accompanied 
by  his  own  portrait  engraved  from  a  painting  by  his  father. 

James  Rawlinson,  a  Derbyshire  artist,  also  studied  under  Romney 
for  a  time.  He  is  best  remembered  by  his  portrait  of  Dr.  Erasmus 
Darwin,  the  poet,  which  was  engraved  by  Heath.  Rawlinson,  who 
died  in  1848,  in  his  eightieth  year,  only  once  exhibited  in  the  Royal 
Academy — 'An  Old  Woman  Knitting,'  in  1799.  Another  inmate  of 
his  house,  already  mentioned,  was  Willoughby,  fourth  and  youngest 
son  of  Sir  John  Trevelyan,  whose  aspirations  to  become  a  painter 
were  abruptly  ended  by  his  early  death  in  1785. 

Towards  the  end  of  his  life,  Romney  formed  plans  for  adding  to 
his  large  collection  of  casts  from  antique  sculpture,  and  he  proposed, 
when  these  had  been  suitably  arranged  in  his  new  studio,  to  admit 
a  certain  number  of  young  artists,  who  would  form  a  kind  of 
academy  under  his  own  direction,  thus  giving  them  an  opportunity  for 
the  study  of  ancient  art,  such  as  he  himself  had  lacked  in  his  'prentice 
days.  This  scheme  remained  more  or  less  in  the  clouds;  but,  in 
addition  to  young  Tom  Hayley,  Romney  had  three  pupils  at  the  close 
276 


ROM NEY'S  PUPILS 


of  his  career,  all  of  whom  became  painters  of  some  distinction.  These 
were  Isaac  Pocock,  James  Lonsdale,  and  Thomas  Stewardson. 

Isaac  Pocock,  son  of  Nicholas  Pocock  of  Bristol,  the  marine 
painter,  was  born  in  1782,  and  entered  Romney's  studio  about  1798 
when  he  was  sixteen,  where  he  worked  side  by  side  with  Tom  Hayley. 
He  accompanied  his  master  on  the  last  visit  paid  to  Eartham  in 
February  1799,  on  which  occasion  Hayley  burst  forth  into  verse  in 
praise  of  his  juvenile  talents.  On  Romney's  departure  for  the  North, 
Pocock  worked  for  a  time  in  Sir  William  Beechey's  studio.  He 
exhibited  portraits,  historical  pictures,  and  occasional  landscapes  with 
figures  at  the  Royal  Academy  between  1803  and  1818.  In  1807  he 
gained  the  prize  of  £100  offered  by  the  British  Institution  with  his 
'Murder  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket.'  His  portrait  of  '  Bartley  as 
Hamlet'  is  in  the  Garrick  Club,  London.  In  1815  he  succeeded  to 
some  property  and  gave  up  painting  a  year  or  two  afterwards,  amu- 
sing himself  in  its  place  by  writing  for  the  stage  with  considerable 
success,  among  his  pieces  being  The  Miller  and  his  Men,  a  melo- 
drama which  long  after  it  had  ceased  to  be  acted  on  the  stage 
remained  one  of  the  most  popular  pieces  on  the  boards  of  children's 
toy-theatres  until  late  in  the  sixties. 

James  Lonsdale,  who  was  born  in  Lancashire  in  1777,  was,  perhaps, 
the  best  of  Romney's  pupils.  He  came  to  London  as  a  young  man, 
and  was  an  inmate  of  Romney's  house  at  the  same  time  as  Pocock, 
and  also  studied  in  the  Academy  Schools.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  and  chief  supporters  of  the  Society  of  British  Artists,  and 
became  well  known  as  a  portrait  painter,  chiefly  of  men.  A  number 
of  these  are  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery,  including  one  of  Joseph 
Nollekens,  R.A. ;  and  there  is  a  portrait-group  of  himself  and  his 
three  brothers  in  the  Nottingham  Art  Gallery.  On  the  death  of 
Opie  he  purchased  that  painter's  house  in  Berners  Street,  where  he 
resided  until  his  own  death  in  1839. 

Romney's  last  pupil,  Thomas  Stewardson,  was  born  in  Kendal  in 
1781,  and  came  of  a  Quaker  family.  He  was  with  the  painter  during 
the  few  remaining  years  he  passed  in  the  north,  moving  to  London 
on  his  master's  death.  He  first  exhibited  in  the  Royal  Academy  in 
1803,  and  between  that  date  and  1825  contributed  a  number  of 
portraits  and  some  fancy  subjects  to  its  exhibitions.  In  the  catalogue 
for  1811  he  is  described  as  Portrait  Painter  to  H.R.H.  the  Princess 
of  Wales.  George  in.  and  his  queen  sat  to  him,  and  his  portrait  of 
Grote  is  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery.     More  than  one  of  his 

277 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


sitters,  such  as  E.  B.  Wilbraham,  M.P.,  in  1815,  and  Colonel  Braddyll 
in  1816,  had  been  painted  by  Romney  at  an  earlier  date.  Stewardson 
painted  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  John  Romney,  which  was  lent  to  the 
Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibition,  190G  (No.  99),  and  wrongly 
described  in  the  first  edition  of  the  catalogue  as  a  portrait  by  George 
Romney  of  his  wife.  This  is  an  effective  and  animated  work,  some- 
what in  the  manner  of  Romney,  but  also  showing  the  influence  of 
Lawrence.  She  is  represented  in  a  green  dress,  and  a  huge  poke- 
bonnet  covered  with  green  silk.  The  colour  of  the  background  sky 
is  very  reminiscent  of  his  first  master.  A  portrait  by  him  of  Miss 
Millers  when  a  child,  in  a  white  dress,  gathering  flowers,  was  included 
in  the  sale  of  the  late  Mr.  W.  Millers-Rawlinson  at  Messrs.  Christie  s, 
on  July  5th,  1902  (No.  122,  50  in.  x  40  in.).    Stewardson  died  in  1859. 

Another  pupil  of  these  last  days  was  Miss  M.  Barret,  the  miniature 
painter,  a  sister  of  George  Barret,  the  younger.  She  exhibited  seven 
portrait  miniatures  in  all  at  the  Royal  Academy,  in  1797,  1799,  and 
1800.  In  the  two  earlier  years  her  address  in  the  catalogue  is  given 
as  '  At  Mr.  Romney 's,  Cavendish  Square,'  and  she  undoubtedly  studied 
under  him  for  a  time.  In  all  the  biographical  notices  of  her  she  is 
said  to  have  been  a  pupil  of  Mrs.  Mee,  a  miniaturist  of  some  celebrity, 
who  was  much  patronised  by  George  iv.,  when  Prince  of  Wales. 
Mrs.  Mee  was  the  Miss  Foldstone,  already  spoken  of,  whom  Romney 
assisted  when  she  began  to  paint  in  order  to  support  a  large  family 
left  in  poverty  by  the  death  of  her  father,  an  artist  of  small  capability ; 
and  to  whom  Hayley  sat  in  1788  for  a  miniature  for  which  Romney 
paid.  Only  three  of  Miss  Barret's  miniatures  exhibited  in  the  Royal 
Academy  had  distinguishing  titles,  and  of  these  two  were  of  friends 
of  Romney's.  In  1797  she  sent  a  '  Portrait  of  Mr.  Walker,  Lecturer 
on  Philosophy,'  and  in  1799  one  of  'Mr.  French,'  who  is  mentioned 
in  one  of  Tom  Hayley 's  letters  to  his  father,  dated  March  27th, 
1795  :  '  Drank  tea  at  Mr.  Romney's,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Flaxman, 
Mr.  French,  and  Miss  Nicholas.'  She  also  painted  a  miniature  of 
Romney  himself  in  1798,  which  was  lot  140  in  the  Romney  sale  of 
1894,  when  it  fetched  £8,  5s.  In  1800,  after  Romney  had 
returned  to  Kendal,  she  sent  her  last  contribution  to  the  Academy, 
a  miniature  group  of  '  The  Duke  of  Northumberland  and  family,' 
from  an  address  close  to  the  old  studio,  19  Princes  Street,  Cavendish 
Square.  Later  in  life  she  abandoned  miniature  painting,  and  became 
a  member  of  the  Water  Colour  Society  in  1823,  and  exhibited  one  or 
more  drawings  every  season  until  1835,  dying  in  the  following  year. 
278 


ENGRAVERS   OF   ROMNEY'S  WORKS 


Birds  were  her  chief  subjects,  but  she  also  sent  studies  of  fish,  fruit, 
and  other  objects  of  still  life. 

Mention  should  also  be  made  of  Thomas  Barrow,  a  miniaturist  and 
portrait  painter,  whose  address  in  the  catalogue  of  the  Society  of 
Artists'  Exhibition  in  1770  is  given  as  'At  Mr.  Romney's,  Great 
Newport  Street.'  In  the  following  year  his  address  is  'At  Mr. 
Penny's,  York,'  so  that  he  may  not  have  been  a  pupil  of  Romney's. 
He  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  until  1819. 

Some  sixty  contemporary  engravers  produced  between  them  about 
one  hundred  and  sixty  plates  after  Romney's  portraits.  Full  details 
of  these  will  be  found  in  Mr.  Henry  P.  Home's  admirable  catalogue 
of  '  Engravings  after  George  Romney,'  which  has  been  reprinted 
in  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell's  book.  In  most  cases  these  men  engraved 
only  one  or  two  plates  after  him.  John  Jones  heads  the  list  with  a 
total  of  twenty-six,  followed  by  John  Raphael  Smith  with  twelve, 
which  include  the  Stafford  family  group  of  'Dancing  Children,' 
'  Mrs.  Carwardine  and  her  Child,'  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  Nature,'  '  The 
Clavering  Children,'  'Miss  Cumberland,'  'Serena  Reading,'  'Lady 
Louisa  Stormont'  (Countess  of  Mansfield),  and  the  'Countess  of 
Warwick.'  Caroline  Watson  engraved  nine,  most  of  which  were 
done  for  Hayley's  book,  and  Charles  Howard  Hodges,  James  Walker, 
and  William  Dickinson  seven  each,  and  Valentine  Green  five. 
Among  the  other  engravers  who  worked  after  him  were  Bartolozzi, 
Johann  Jacobe,  Schiavonetti,  J.  K.  Sherwin,  Thomas  Cheesman, 
John  Dean,  Joseph  Grozer,  George  Keating,  Richard  Earlom,  John 
Murphy,  Robert  Dunkerton,  James  Watson,  and  William  Blake. 
The  latter  engraved  the  '  Shipwreck '  scene,  for  the  purposes  of 
Hayley's  Life  of  Romney,  and  the  portrait  of  Cowper  for  the  same 
writer's  Life  of  that  poet.  A  list  of  the  more  modern  mezzotints 
after  Romney  will  be  found  in  Appendix  m. 


279 


PART  III :  HIS  ART 


XXII 


EW  English  painters  of  the  eighteenth  century  owed  less  to  the 


teaching  of  others  than  George  Romney.     Until  he  had 


**-  reached  his  twenty-first  year,  his  art  slowly  struggled  to  find 
expression  as  best  it  could,  unaided  by  outside  influences.  At  an 
early  age  he  showed  unmistakable  signs  of  the  passion  which  was  to 
consume  him  for  the  remainder  of  his  days,  but  he  received  little  help 
from  his  small  world  of  Dalton,  beyond  words  of  encouragement  from 
one  or  two  of  his  father's  friends ;  and  what  little  knowledge  he 
gained  was  the  result  of  laborious  copying  of  the  few  engravings  which 
came  within  his  reach,  and  from  attempts  at  portraiture  whenever  a 
good-natured  companion  could  be  persuaded  to  sit.  His  friend 
Williamson,  the  watchmaker,  certainly  encouraged  him  in  his  ambi- 
tions, and  is  said  to  have  given  him  some  little  instruction,  but  it  is 
doubtful  whether  he  had  the  ability  to  teach  him  anything  of  value. 
We  are  not  told  that  his  father  looked  upon  his  desire  to  become  a 
painter  with  any  favour.  The  times  were  bad,  and  the  limner's  trade 
was  much  more  precarious  than  that  of  cabinet-making ;  and  it  was 
only  when  the  youth's  proclivities  for  brush  instead  of  chisel  had 
become  too  marked  to  be  put  aside  carelessly  as  unworthy  of  con- 
sideration, and  when  one  or  two  of  the  elder  Romney 's  associates 
strongly  urged  the  step,  that  George  was  allowed  to  follow  the  path 
along  which  his  inclinations  led  him  so  insistently. 

It  is  difficult  to  decide  how  much  or  how  little  knowledge  he  gained 
during  his  short  apprenticeship  to  Christopher  Steele,  an  apprentice- 
ship which  came  to  a  somewhat  abrupt  conclusion  two  years  after  he 
had  entered  upon  it.  What  ability  Steele  possessed  it  is  not  easy  to 
say,  as  his  portraits  are  buried  in  oblivion,  and  could  now  only  be 
unearthed  by  much  patient  searching  among  the  houses  in  the  North 
Country.  He  was  not,  according  to  John  Romney,  the  mere  '  itinerant 
dawber'  Richard  Cumberland  called  him,  and  he  probably  had  the 


280 


CHRISTOPHER  STEELE 


skill,  though,  unfortunately,  not  the  patience,  to  give  his  pupil  a  good 
grounding  in  the  rudiments  of  art,  and  to  hand  on  to  him  some  of  the 
lessons  he  had  himself  learnt  from  Van  Loo. 

Thomas  Robinson,  to  whose  description  of  Romney's  habits  at  a 
later  period  of  life  reference  has  been  already  made,  begins  that  account 
with  a  few  words  about  his  masters  master: — 'Count  Steel  (the 
master  of  Romney)  was  not  so  contemptible  a  painter,  as  one  would 
suppose,  from  Mr.  Cumberland's  account.  The  giving  him  all  the 
praise  he  deserved,  can  detract  nothing  from  our  admirable  artist,  who 
often  mentioned,  that  he  drew  with  correctness:  and  described  him  to 
me,  as  '  a  neat  painter'  He  once  shewed  me  his  portrait  by  himself 
which  he  said  was  as  good  as  the  portraits  of  Hudson.  I  have  con- 
versed with  many  people,  that  were  intimately  acquainted  with  Steel, 
who  all  described  him  as  an  "  ingenious,  inoffensive  man  " ;  and  old 
Mr.  Wright,  the  cabinet-maker,  (with  whom  Mr.  Romney  worked  for 
some  time  at  Lancaster)  related  to  me  the  liberal  manner  in  which 
Steel  relinquished  his  engagement,  that  "  he  might  not  retard  the 
progress  of  a  mind,  that,  he  was  sure,  would  do  wonders."  On  my 
return  to  Windermere,  after  leaving  Mr.  Romney,  I  had  the  curiosity 
to  see  some  of  Steel's  pictures,  which  were  freely  painted  in  rather  a 
broad  manner ;  the  drawing  was  correct,  and  in  one  of  them  was 
the  best  imitation  of  a  lace  cap  and  apron  I  remember  to  have  seen.' 

While  with  the  '  Count,'  however,  the  young  man  gained  one 
invaluable  experience,  which  stood  him  in  good  stead  throughout  the 
whole  of  his  career.  He  became  expert  in  the  grinding  and  mixing 
of  colours,  and  his  palette,  though  a  restricted  one  compared  with  that 
of  certain  of  his  rivals,  remained  always  a  sound  one  from  a  technical 
point  of  view.  This  is  proved  by  the  durability  of  his  pictures.  Many 
of  them  are  almost  as  fresh  and  pure  in  colour  as  on  the  day  when 
they  were  painted.  Steele  certainly  taught  him  the  proper  use  of 
paints,  and  the  method  of  handling  a  brush,  but  in  other  respects  seems 
to  have  left  him  to  his  own  devices.  Romney  never  had  the  advan- 
tage, so  necessary  if  a  man's  art  is  to  achieve  its  fullest  expression,  of 
a  thorough  training  in  the  use  of  the  pencil,  and,  in  consequence,  his 
painting  always  suffered  from  the  lack  of  it,  in  spite  of  his 
strenuous  efforts  at  a  later  date  to  improve  himself  in  this  direction. 
Composition,  of  course,  was  not  to  be  expected  from  Steele,  and  what 
little  insight  the  younger  man  obtained  into  this  most  difficult  side  of 
his  art,  came  from  his  constant  habit  of  making  copies  of  engravings, 
whenever  he  could  scrape  together  the  necessary  pence  for  their 

281 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 

purchase.  For  this  reason  many  of  the  earliest  of  his  pictures 
mentioned  by  his  biographers  owe  their  origin  to  his  study  of  some 
Dutch  or  Flemish  scene  of  village  merry-making,  or  some  Italianised 
landscape  after  Poussin  or  Berghem. 

The  pictures  he  painted  when  he  had  just  begun  his  career  as  a 
fully  fledged  and  independent  artist  naturally  gave  but  few  indications 
of  the  exceptional  powers  he  was  to  manifest  later  on.  His  tuition 
had  been  so  slight  and  his  period  of  study  so  short  that  too  much  is 
not  to  be  expected  from  these  first  faltering  attempts  to  express  him- 
self, and  to  give  adequate  and  life-like  resemblance  to  his  sitters. 
Happily  he  did  not  lack  kind  friends  who  were  ready  to  help  him  by 
having  their  portraits  painted,  and,  in  most  cases,  they  were  well 
satisfied  with  the  result. 

His  first  patrons,  already  mentioned,  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter 
Strickland,  of  Sizergh,  of  whom  he  painted  small  three-quarter  length 
portraits.1  These  are  marked  by  careful  workmanship,  and  pains- 
taking efforts  to  render  the  details  of  the  costumes  faithfully.  Walter 
Strickland  is  shown  to  the  knees,  in  an  elaborately  laced  coat  and 
long  waistcoat,  one  hand  resting  on  his  hip,  and  the  other,  palm 
upwards,  on  a  stone  parapet.  Mrs.  Strickland  (Cecilia  Townley) 
poses  as  a  shepherdess  with  a  crook,  in  one  of  those  low-necked 
costumes  in  which  Lely  delighted  to  dress  his  beauties.  The  painting 
of  the  head  is  good  and  pleasing,  and  the  hands  have  been  studied 
with  care.  This  artificial  setting  may  perhaps  have  been  suggested  to 
him  by  one  of  the  old  family  portraits,  still  hanging  to-day  at  Sizergh, 
by  such  painters  as  Lely  and  Iligaud,  portraits  of  which  Romney  was 
allowed  to  make  copies,  a  rare  advantage  to  one  whose  opportunities  of 
studying  closely  the  methods  of  the  older  masters  had  been  so  few.2 
A  small  canvas  of  about  the  same  date  as  the  Strickland  portraits, 
exhibited  by  Messrs.  Shepherd  Bros,  in  1905,  represents  the  painter's 
wife.  It  is  careful  and  smooth  in  execution  and  in  the  rendering  of 
the  draperies,  a  puce-coloured  dress  with  white  sleeves,  and,  indeed,  in 
all  parts  of  the  picture,  bears  a  close  resemblance  to  the  Sizergh 
examples.    (See  Plate  i.) 

At  the  beginning  of  his  career  Romney  painted  a  number  of  small 
full-lengths.  Among  these  are  portraits  of  two  other  members  of  the 
Strickland  family — Charles,  with  fishing-rod  in  hand,  by  the  side  of  a 
stream;3  and  the  Rev.  William  Strickland,  seated  in  his  study,  by  a 


1  Still  at  Sizergh  Castle,  near  Kendal,  in  the  possession  of  Sir  Gerald  Strickland. 
'l  See  page  26.  3  See  page  27. 

282 


EARLY  PORTRAITS 


table,  covered  with  books,  an  antique  bust,  and  reading-desk,  and  a 
large  globe  on  the  ground.  All  the  details  in  the  latter  picture  are 
painted  with  an  attempt  at  careful  realism.  The  figure,  which  is 
lighted  from  above,  is  a  little  squat  and  wooden,  a  fault  to  be  noticed 
in  other  early  canvases  containing  small  full-length  figures,  such  as 
the,  scene  from  Tristram  Shandy,  already  described,  in  which  Dr.  Slop, 
all  splashed  with  mud  from  his  fall  in  the  lane,  is  entering  the  Shandean 
parlour.  It  displays  some  sense  of  humour,  but  the  drawing  of  the 
figures  gives  no  great  promise  of  future  excellence.  The  original,  how- 
ever, cannot  now  be  traced,  and  this  '  squatness  '  may  be  due  in  part  to 
the  indifferent  engraver  employed  by  Hayley.  This  picture  and  others 
taken  from  Sterne,  now  lost  or  hidden  away  in  some  mansion  with  the 
painter's  name  forgotten,  were  highly  praised  by  Romney's  intimate 
friends. 

Another  of  these  early  small  full-lengths  has  recently  found  a  home 
in  the  National  Gallery,  the  portrait  of  Jacob  Morland,  of  Capple- 
thwaite,  bequeathed  by  Colonel  John  Morland.  It  represents  a  young 
man  of  some  eighteen  years,  in  a  blue-green  dress  with  gold  lace  and 
buttons,  black  and  white  stockings,  and  a  gold-laced  three-cornered  hat. 
His  hair,  slightly  powdered,  is  dressed  in  two  tight  curls  over  each  ear. 
He  is  standing  in  a  landscape,  holding  a  long  gun  in  his  left  hand,  the 
butt  of  which  rests  on  the  ground,  with  a  brown  and  white  pointer  at 
his  feet.  A  mass  of  rock  rises  on  the  left,  and  in  the  distance  his 
mansion  is  seen,  with  the  Cumberland  mountains  in  the  background. 
The  whole  has  been  painted  with  extreme  care,  but  the  general  effect 
is  hard  and  wooden,  and  the  colour,  in  which  a  bluish  hue  pre- 
dominates, is  unpleasant.  It  is  the  kind  of  work,  careful  but  quite 
uninspired,  of  which  many  third-rate  painters  of  that  day  were 
capable,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  in  it  any  suggestion  of  Romney's 
later  style. 

He  also  painted  various  members  of  the  Wilson  family,  of  Dallam 
Tower,  which  have  been  described  on  an  earlier  page.  All  these 
portraits  are  carefully  painted,  with  the  details  of  the  costumes 
elaborated  with  a  painstaking  striving  after  accuracy. 

On  parting  with  Steele,  in  1757,  Romney  returned  to  Kendal,  where 
he  remained  for  some  time,  after  which,  in  1760  or  1761,  he  pitched  his 
tent  in  Lancaster  for  the  greater  part  of  a  year,  where  he  was  very  busily 
occupied.  In  a  letter  to  Adam  Walker,  after  the  latter  had  returned 
to  his  school  at  Preston,  printed  by  Hayley  for  the  purpose  of  refuting 
the  statement  that  the  painter  was  'utterly  illiterate,' he  gives  a  list 

283 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


of  twenty-seven  portraits  upon  which  he  was  then  engaged.  This 
list,  which  would  have  been  an  invaluable  aid  towards  the  discovery  and 
identification  of  much  of  his  early  work,  the  self-complacent  poet  omitted 
as  of  no  particular  interest,  little  dreaming  how  gladly  the  modern 
student  would  give  up  twenty- seven  lines  of  the  author's  too  copious 
verse,  which  meanders  through  his  volume  in  a  never-ceasing  stream,  for 
the  names  of  those  now-forgotten  sitters.  A  systematic  search  through 
the  older  mansions  in  the  district  might  be  successful  in  bringing 
some  of  them  to  light  again. 

If  we  can  ascribe  to  this  first  Lancastrian  period — for  he  was  there 
again  some  years  later,  both  in  1765  and  in  1767 — such  portraits  as  the 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  H.  Rawlinson,  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland 
Gower's  book,  and  the  four  of  the  Collingwood  family  exhibited  in 
Messrs.  Shepherd  Bros',  gallery  in  1905,  it  becomes  evident  that  the 
young  painter  was  making  rapid  strides  in  his  profession.  These  are 
all  half-lengths,  in  which  the  drawing  of  the  heads  is  more  life-like 
and  assured,  while  greater  animation  and  character  is  shown  in  the 
faces.  The  dignified,  strongly-marked  features  of  Mr.  Rawlinson  are 
a  great  advance  upon  the  more  laboured  but  expressionless  countenance 
of  Mr.  W alter  Strickland.  More  than  one  itinerant  painter  of  the 
time  could  have  accomplished  the  latter,  but  in  the  Rawlinson 
portraits  there  are  clear  proofs  that  an  artist  of  unusual  ability  was 
beginning  to  manifest  himself.  The  Mrs.  Rawlinson,  in  her  quaker- 
like costume  of  white  cap  fastened  under  the  chin,  and  almost  covering 
the  hair,  and  large  white  fichu  hiding  most  of  the  dress,  displays 
similar  qualities,  and  is  evidently  a  faithful  portrait  of  a  comely, 
middle-aged  lady.  Both  these  pictures  remain  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  Charles  Walker,  of  Bretargh  Holt,  Kendal,  their  descendant,  as 
well  as  a  third  portrait  of  the  same  date,  of  their  son,  Abram  Rawlinson, 
who  became  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Lancaster  and  its  repre- 
sentative in  Parliament.  Romney  painted  him  when  he  was  a  young 
man  of  about  twenty-one.  He  is  represented  standing  in  a  landscape, 
his  left  arm  resting  on  a  rough  stone  pillar  or  parapet.  He  wears  a 
dark  coat  and  a  short  wig,  and  the  left  side  of  the  face  is  in  deep 
shadow.  This,  too,  is  a  very  straightforward  and  dignified  piece  of 
work,  in  which  the  manly  qualities  of  the  sitter  are  excellently  rendered. 
'  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Lindow,'  now  in  the  National  Gallery,  may  be 
grouped  with  these  portraits,  though  probably  ten  or  twelve  years 
later  in  date,  for  the  lady  was  Abigail,  daughter  of  Abram  Rawlinson 
the  elder,  with  whom  her  husband  was  in  partnership  in  Lancaster. 
284 


PLATE  I.VII 


SIR  WILLIAM  LEMON  OF  CARCLEW 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  COLONEL  TRE.MAYNE 

Page  332 


PLATE  LV1II 


JOHN  OGLANDER,  DD. 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  THE  WARDEN  OF  NEW  COLLEGE,  OXFORD 

Page  333 


EARLY  PORTRAITS 


This  picture  is  too  well  known  to  need  description.  The  Romney  and 
Rawlinson  families  became  connected  in  later  years,  the  late  Mrs. 
Rawlinson,  of  Graythwaite,  being  a  grand-daughter  of  the  artist. 

The  portrait  of  Mrs.  Collingwood  (see   Plate   xxin.)  closely 
resembles  that  of  Mrs.  Rawlinson,  both  in  handling  and  in  costume. 
A  white  cap  of  the  same  pattern  covers  her  dark  hair,  and  a 
white  fichu,  more  frilled  but  otherwise  the  same,  is  crossed  over 
the  breast.     The  ribbons  and  other  parts  of  the  dress  of  rose  and 
green  shot  silk  are  painted  with  evident  care,  but  with  much  more 
freedom  and  grace  than  in  such  a  portrait  as  the  '  Cecilia  Townley ' 
at  Sizergh,  and  give  promise  of  the  dexterity  which,  later  on,  was  to 
distinguish  his  painting  of  draperies.    The  portraits  of  her  little  boy 
and  girl  are  charming.    (See  Plates  xxiv.  and  xxv.)    They  are  not 
faultless  in  drawing,  the  head  in  each  case  being  too  big  in  propor- 
tion to  the  body,  but  they  are  true  precursors  of  those  delightful 
pictures  of  children  which  Romney  painted  with  such  real  sympathy 
and  insight  at  all  periods  of  his  life.    The  little  girl  wears  a  green 
frock  and  white  muslin  pinafore,  and  the  boy  is  dressed  in  a  green 
jacket,  white  linen  collar,  and  cambric  ruffles  at  the  wrist,  and  holds 
an  open  book  in  his  hands.     On  the  back  of  the  canvas  of  the 
'  Mrs.  Collingwood '  is  written  4  For  Mr.  George  Romney,  at  the 
King's  Arms,  Lancaster.'    These  three  portraits,  together  with  that 
of  Mr.   Collingwood,  were   originally  in  the   possession  of  Lady 
Pringle,  nee  Grace  Pye,  of  Richmond,  Yorkshire,  from  whom  they 
descended    by  bequest  to    Miss   Emily  Purvis,   of  Westbury-sub- 
Mendip,  Somerset,  by  whose  kind  permission  they  are  reproduced  in 
this  book.      They  were  all   exhibited  in  Messrs.  Shepherd  Bros. 
Gallery  in  1905. 

Another  early  portrait,  a  young  man  in  a  dark  skull-cap,  of  high 
forehead  and  reflective  countenance,  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  H. 
Dawson-Greene,  represents  Romney 's  life-long  friend,  Thomas  Greene, 
the  solicitor.  This,  too,  is  a  dignified  and  expressive  work,  and,  as  in 
the  portrait  just  described,  the  colour-scheme  is  subdued  but  pleasant, 
It  is  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gowrer's  book. 

Two  other  early  examples,  representing  members  of  the  Fenton 
Cawthorne  family,  are  still  hanging  in  Fenton  Cawthorne  House, 
Gisburne,  and  belong  to  Mr.  A.  W.  Wingate  Saul.  Both  are  full- 
lengths,  one  being  the  portrait  of  a  lady,  with  dark  hair,  wearing  a  red 
silk  dress  on  which  the  reflections  of  the  light  are  cleverly  shown,  while 
the  details  of  the  lace  with  which  it  is  trimmed  are  very  carefully 

285 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


painted.  She  holds  up  the  gown  with  her  left  hand,  and  with  the 
right  hand  points  to  a  squirrel  which  is  seen  among  the  foliage  of  the 
background.  The  picture  is  conceived  in  the  manner  of  the  older 
school  of  Lely  and  Kneller.  The  second  canvas  contains  the  portraits 
of  two  boys,  of  about  the  ages  of  ten  and  twelve,  each  dressed  in  a  long 
dark  coat,  knee  breeches,  and  white  stockings,  and  both  looking 
towards  the  spectator.  The  one  on  the  left  is  holding  a  pigeon  in  the 
hollow  of  his  right  hand,  while  his  left  rests  on  his  brother's  shoulder. 
The  latter  holds  out  both  hands  filled  with  corn  for  the  bird  to  eat. 
In  the  right-hand  corner  of  the  foreground  there  is  a  carefully  drawn 
liver-and- white  spaniel,  looking  up  at  them,  which  closely  resembles 
the  dog  in  the  Morland  portrait  in  the  National  Gallery.  There  is  a 
curtain  in  the  background. 

These  portraits  are  probably  likenesses  of  the  wife  and  sons  of  John 
Fenton  Cawthorne,  who  was  a  Colonel  of  the  Westminster  regiment 
of  the  Middlesex  Militia,  and  represented  Lincoln  in  Parliament  for 
thirteen  years,  afterwards  sitting  as  member  for  Lancaster  for  seven- 
teen years.  He  was  expelled  from  the  House  for  some  fraudulent 
practices  in  1796,  and  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  in  1826. 

Though  one  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  these  early  portraits  is 
the  careful  manner  in  which  they  are  painted,  Romney  quickly  de- 
veloped a  great  facility  of  handling,  which  eventually  enabled  him  to 
produce  an  extraordinary  number  of  canvases.  During  the  five  years 
he  worked  in  the  north,  before  moving  to  London  in  1762,  he  never 
lacked  constant  employment,  and  as  the  fees  he  received  were  so 
insignificant,  it  was  necessary,  if  he  meant  to  live  decently,  and  sup- 
port a  wife,  however  frugal  she  might  be,  and  two  small  children,  that 
he  should  not  only  work  hard  but  should  train  himself  to  paint  por- 
traits rapidly,  and  to  finish  a  likeness  in  one  or  two  sittings  of  a  few 
hours  each.  He  thus  developed  methods  of  painting  which  he  retained 
more  or  less  unaltered  until  the  end  of  his  career. 

So  wholly  wrapped  up  in  his  art  that  all  other  matters  were  treated 
with  more  or  less  indifference,  and  actuated  by  the  sole  desire  of  rapid 
improvement,  London  had  been  in  his  thoughts  as  the  ultimate  goal  of 
his  ambitions  long  before  he  was  able  finally  to  realise  them.  While 
in  the  provinces  he  had  no  opportunity  of  intercourse  with  fellow- 
painters  of  ability  ;  but  in  London  he  found  himself  in  the  very  centre 
of  artistic  affairs,  so  that  his  perceptions  were  at  once  quickened,  and 
the  range  of  his  ideas  enlarged.  His  sensitive  and  suspicious  nature 
did  not  permit  him  at  any  time  of  his  life  to  make  many  friends,  nor, 
286 


INFLUENCE  OF  REYNOLDS 


indeed,  to  make  any  friend  easily,  but  he  soon  became  fairly  intimate 
with  a  few  artists,  more  particularly  the  miniature  painters  Jeremiah 
Meyer  and  Ozias  Humphry.  There  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  he 
worked  in  the  St.  Martin's  Lane  Academy,  but  possibly  he  may  have 
made  some  use  of  the  opportunities  it  gave  to  a  poor  man  of  studying 
from  the  life  without  heavy  expense. 

That  London  impelled  him  to  greater  efforts  than  he  had  attempted 
previously,  is  shown  by  his  setting  to  work,  almost  immediately,  upon 
a  large  composition  of  life-sized  figures,  '  The  Death  of  General  Wolfe.' 
This,  his  first  exhibited  picture,  which  led  to  the  unpleasant  dispute 
already  mentioned,  enabled  him  to  place  his  foot  on  the  first  step  of  the 
ladder  of  fame,  and  so  make  his  name  known  to  a  wider  audience  than 
he  had  hitherto  reached. 

A  modern  critic,  writing  in  defence  of  Sir  Joshua,  speaks  of  '  the 
lucky  and  good-for-nothing  Romney,  who  takes  what  little  he  has  from 
Reynolds  and  spoils  it.' 

Such  a  statement  is  exaggerated  and  unfair.  Romney  in  those 
early  London  days  undoubtedly  owed  something  to  the  example  of 
Reynolds.  He  could  hardly  have  avoided  the  spell.  Indeed,  with  the 
exception  of  Gainsborough,  there  were  few  of  his  contemporaries  who 
did  not  owe  something  of  their  success  to  their  study,  and  even  imita- 
tion, of  the  man,  then  approaching  the  zenith  of  his  powers,  who  was 
the  undisputed  head  of  the  English  school  of  painting,  and  who  had 
given  by  his  example  a  new  impetus  to  portraiture.  Reynolds'  art,  as 
displayed  in  his  contributions  to  the  annual  exhibitions,  must  have 
come  as  a  revelation  to  Romney,  who,  until  then,  had  seen  nothing  to 
approach  it  in  distinction,  vitality,  or  beauty  of  colour. 

At  the  Exhibition  of  the  Society  of  Artists  in  1762,  he  would  have 
the  opportunity  of  studying  three  such  fine  examples  as  the  full-length 
of  '  Lady  Elizabeth  Keppell,'  'Lady  Waldegrave  and  her  Daughter,  as 
Dido  embracing  Cupid,'  and  '  Garrick  between  Tragedy  and  Comedy  ' ; 
while  Gainsborough  had  sent  from  Bath  his  full-length  of  '  Mr. 
Poyntz.'  In  the  following  year  Reynolds  exhibited,  among  others, 
'  The  Ladies  Montagu,'  and  a  half-length  of  '  Nelly  O'Brien  ';  in  1764, 
'  Lady  Sarah  Bunbury,'  and  in  1765  the  still  more  famous  portrait  of 
the  same  fair  lady  'sacrificing  to  the  Graces.'  Such  works  as  these 
must  have  widened  Romney  s  horizon,  opening  his  eyes  to  greater 
possibilities  in  portraiture  than  he  had  hitherto  dreamt  of,  and  it  was 
only  to  be  expected  that  their  influence  should  make  itself  apparent 
in  his  work.     It  is  to  be  seen  in  such  pictures  as  his  '  Sisters  con- 

287 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


templating  on  Mortality,'  exhibited  in  1767,  and  considered  of  suf- 
ficient importance  to  be  engraved  by  Dunkerton  in  1770. 

A  still  earlier  example  of  this  influence  is  to  be  found  in  the 
portrait  of  '  Mrs.  Wilbraham  Bootle,'  in  the  Earl  of  Lathom's  col- 
lection at  Lathom  House,  Ormskirk,  which,  according  to  his  lord- 
ship's catalogue,  was  painted  in  1764,  and  is  very  possibly  that 
portrait  of  '  A  Young  Lady,'  which  was  exhibited  by  Romney  at 
the  Free  Society  of  Artists  in  that  year.  It  was  probably  painted 
shortly  before  her  marriage,  when  she  was  Miss  Mary  Bootle.  (See 
Plate  xxvi.)  In  this  picture  there  is  not  only  an  evident  attempt 
to  paint  in  the  method  of  Reynolds,  but  also  a  recollection  of  the 
less  natural  school  of  the  preceding  century.  The  lady  is  clad  in  a 
white  dress,  cut  low,  and  crossed  over  the  breast,  with  a  pale  blue 
sash  ending  in  a  pink  tassel.  Over  it  she  wears  a  cloak  of  pink 
velvet,  open  in  front,  with  sleeves  cut  in  a  •  Vandyck '  pattern,  and 
the  whole  trimmed  with  ermine.  Her  right  hand  rests  on  the  head 
of  a  greyhound,  which  is  springing  up  against  her,  in  much  the  same 
way  as  the  dog  in  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Bacchante,'  and  even  more 
badly  drawn  than  the  animal  in  the  latter  picture.  She  has  brown 
hair,  and  is  standing  in  a  landscape  facing  the  spectator.  The  back- 
ground has  darkened  considerably,  but  an  urn  can  be  discerned  on  the 
left,  and  some  classical  ruins,  with  a  broken  arch  from  which  some 
trees  are  growing,  in  much  the  same  manner  as  in  the  made-up  scenery 
in  the  '  Two  Sisters  '  picture.  It  is  of  great  interest  as  showing  of 
what  Romney  was  capable  at  the  age  of  thirty,  after  a  year  or  two  of 
intercourse  with  his  fellow-painters  in  the  metropolis. 

Another  case,  considerably  later  in  date,  in  which  the  Reynolds 
influence  is  to  be  detected,  is  the  portrait  of  Lady  Napier.  This  lady 
sat  to  both  Reynolds  and  Romney,  though  the  whereabouts  of  only 
one  of  the  two  portraits  is  known  to-day.  This  was  exhibited  in  the 
Birmingham  Art  Gallery,  in  1900,1  as  by  Romney,  and  has  since  been 
illustrated  in  the  last  volume  of  Mr.  Algernon  Graves's  elaborate  book 
on  Sir  Joshua  as  a  genuine  Reynolds,  while  it  is  also  catalogued  by 
Messrs.  Humphry  Ward  and  Roberts  as  an  undoubted  work  from 
Romney  s  brush.  Another  fine  example,  still  later  in  date,  the  portrait 
of '  Mrs.  Drummond  Smith,'  was  lent  by  the  Marchioness  of  North- 
ampton to  the  Winter  Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  1873  as  a 
Romney,  and  has  been  recently  reproduced  in  Part  iv.  of  the  '  Great 

1  By  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Napier  Clavering.  It  was  reproduced  in  the  illustrated  edition  of  the 
Birmingham  catalogue. 

288 


PORTRAIT  OF  LADY  ELIZABETH  FOSTER 


Masters '  series 1  as  by  Romney  when  under  the  influence  of 
Reynolds,  but  it  is  now  rightly  given  by  the  critics  to  Sir  Joshua.  In 
style  this  lovely  portrait  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  '  Lady 
Elizabeth  Foster,'  by  Reynolds,  in  the  Duke  of  Devonshire's  collec- 
tion, in  connection  with  which  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Rev. 
John  Romney,  when  speaking  of  the  confusion  which  might  afterwards 
arise  between  some  of  the  works  of  the  two  artists,  largely  owing  to 
Romney 's  refusal  to  exhibit,  so  that  his  pictures,  even  in  his  own  day, 
were  practically  unknown,  mentions  in  particular  a  portrait  of  this  lady 
painted  by  his  father  for  the  Duke,  referred  to  on  an  earlier  page,2 
which  he  thought  might  be  easily  mistaken  in  the  future  for  a  Reynolds. 
The  picture  in  the  Devonshire  collection  is,  however,  an  undoubted 
work  by  Sir  Joshua,  whereas  no  trace  can  now  be  found  of  Romney 's 
portrait.  From  such  examples  as  these,  it  is  evident  that  Romney  was 
not  only  unconsciously  influenced  by  his  great  rival,  but  at  times  made 
a  more  deliberate  attempt  to  paint  in  his  manner. 

His  visit  to  Paris  in  1764  was  too  short  to  have  any  marked  effect 
upon  his  painting,  although  his  earlier  biographers  note  an  improve- 
ment on  his  return  to  London.  His  imagination,  however,  must  have 
been  greatly  stimulated  by  the  many  fine  examples  of  the  old  masters 
to  which  he  had  access  in  the  Orleans  and  other  collections.  He  is  said 
to  have  devoted  particular  attention  to  the  study  of  Rubens,  but  it  is 
difficult  to  detect  any  direct  traces  of  this  influence  in  his  work. 

1  Published  by  Mr.  William  Heinemann,  1903.  2  See  page  270. 


G.  R. — 19 


289 


XXIII 


OF  far  greater  importance  to  the  development  of  his  art  was  his 
journey  to  Italy,  where  he  remained  for  two  years  and  some 
months,  spending  the  greater  part  of  the  time  in  Rome. 
Actuated  by  the  single  purpose  of  self-improvement,  he  worked  inces- 
santly, avoiding  almost  all  social  intercourse  with  his  fellow-artists. 
In  an  earlier  chapter  various  extracts  from  his  letters  have  been  given, 
in  which  he  describes  in  some  detail  the  pictures  which  most  attracted 
him.  The  names  of  the  painters  may  be  briefly  recapitulated  here. 
During  a  stay  of  a  few  days  in  Genoa  the  portraits  of  Van  Dyck  made 
a  great  impression  upon  him ;  while  in  Rome  he  made  a  close  and  con- 
stant study  of  Michelangelo  and  Raphael,  seeking,  as  his  son  says,  in 
the  first  '  grandeur  and  dignity  ' ;  in  the  latter,  '  grace  and  expression.' 
He  filled  his  sketch-books  with  studies  of  the  Sibyls  and  Prophets  of  the 
Sistine  Chapel,  and  he  copied  in  oils  many  parts  of  Raphael's  frescoes 
and  pictures.  He  also  availed  himself  of  the  advantage,  so  much  more 
easily  procured  in  those  days  in  Rome  than  in  London,  of  studying 
both  from  the  nude,  and  from  models  dressed  in  the  picturesque 
costumes  of  the  country,  for  which  that  city  was  famous. 

On  his  leisurely  journey  homewards,  after  a  day  or  two  in  Florence, 
where  he  studied  with  delight  the  works  of  Cimabue  and  Masaccio, 
he  paused  for  a  short  time  at  Bologna,  and  found  in  the  school  of  the 
Carracci  much  to  be  admired,  discovering  in  Lodovico  '  a  gloom  in  the 
effect  of  his  pictures  well  adapted  to  the  pathetic  and  terrible.'  He 
speaks,  too,  in  praise  of  the  '  St.  Agnes '  of  Domenichino,  and  the 
'  Peter  and  Paul '  of  Guido  Reni,  but  places  them  below  the  '  St. 
Cecilia  '  of  Raphael  and  the  '  St.  Margaret '  of  Parmigiano  in  the  same 
gallery.  The  latter,  in  particular,  he  thought  an  extraordinary  picture. 
He  spent  about  two  months  in  Venice,  devoting  nearly  the  whole  of 
his  time  to  the  study  of  Titian,  and,  in  a  lesser  degree,  of  Tintoret  and 
Paul  Veronese.  His  final  halt  was  at  Parma,  where  he  came  under 
the  spell  of  Correggio,  and  still  further  strengthened  his  admiration  for 
Parmigiano ;  and  the  influence  of  these  two  painters  can  be  detected 
290 


GREAT  ADVANCE  IN   HIS  ART 


in  the  work  he  produced  after  his  return  to  England,  as  well  as  a  great 
improvement  in  his  colour,  due  to  his  Venetian  studies. 

After  settling  again  in  London  the  fruits  of  his  industry  soon  began 
to  ripen.  It  took  him  a  few  months  to  establish  himself  in  the  good 
opinion  of  a  public  of  notoriously  fickle  memory,  but,  having  once 
given  evidence  of  the  striking  advance  he  had  made  in  his  art,  he  soon 
became  the  fashion.  Sitters  of  all  classes  flocked  to  his  studio,  so  that 
in  a  year  or  two  he  had  more  work  on  hand  than  he  should,  with 
justice  to  his  art  and  to  his  clients,  have  undertaken,  eclipsing  Sir 
Joshua  in  the  number  of  his  commissions,  and  painting  many  more 
portraits  than  the  easy-going  Thomas  Gainsborough.  James  North- 
cote,  Sir  Joshua's  pupil,  confessed  that  for  some  years  his  master's  list 
of  sitters  was  sensibly  reduced  by  the  wide  popularity  Romney  had 
then  attained. 

This  rush  to  his  painting-room  was  by  no  means  merely  because 
the  fees  he  charged  were  considerably  lower  than  those  of  his  two  chief 
rivals ;  though  this,  no  doubt,  had  something  to  do  with  it.  The 
captivating  sweetness  and  grace  with  which  his  Italian  studies  had 
imbued  his  canvases  was  the  main  cause  of  the  '  Romney  faction  'becom- 
ing so  powerful  in  the  town.  The  portraits  he  painted  during  the  first 
five  or  six  years  after  settling  in  Cavendish  Square  were  rarely  sur- 
passed by  him  during  the  remainder  of  his  career.  Some  of  his 
loveliest  portraits  of  ladies,  and  many  of  his  most  charming  pictures  of 
children,  date  from  this  period,  before  Emma  Hart  had  come  into  his 
artistic  life,  to  captivate  him  by  her  beauty  and  vivacity,  and  her  power 
to  mimic  all  the  passions,  and  to  fire  his  imagination  by  the  grace 
of  her  movements  and  the  naturalness  of  her  posing.  In  certain  of  the 
pictures  he  painted  from  her,  his  art,  no  doubt,  touched  its  highest 
point  ;  for  his  quickened  impulses  added  to  the  masterly  rendering  of 
the  outward  charms  of  lovely  girlhood  an  animation  of  expression  and 
a  sense  of  vitality  which  had  hitherto  been  somewhat  lacking  in  his 
portraits.  Yet  many  of  the  pictures  he  painted  before  he  met  this  too 
alluring  lady  show  Romney  s  art  at  its  purest  and  its  best.  His  colour 
was  never  more  harmonious,  nor  his  perception  of  beauty  more  keen, 
while  in  the  rendering  of  it  his  brush  was  never  more  assured  and  cer- 
tain, though  it  may  have  gained  in  rapidity  later  in  his  life.  His 
painting  of  draperies — a  branch  of  art  in  which  no  one  of  his  contem- 
poraries could  equal  him — was  then  at  its  finest,  beautiful  both  in  the 
simplicity  of  its  arrangement  and  the  elegance  of  its  flowing  lines. 
They  were  more  elaborated  than  in  his  later  years,  without  any  effect 

291 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


of  heaviness,  while  his  drawing  and  the  modelling  of  his  flesh  were  both 
more  carefully  considered.  Finally,  his  studio  being  less  crowded  than 
it  afterwards  became,  he  gave  more  time  and  thought  to  each  indivi- 
dual effort,  and  being  on  trial,  as  it  were,  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost 
to  do  justice  to  his  powers. 

The  noble  group  of  portraits  of  the  members  of  the  Stafford  family, 
upon  which  he  was  at  work  at  intervals  between  1776  and  1782,  is,  in 
many  ways,  the  finest  manifestation  of  his  genius.  He  painted,  of 
course,  many  individual  portraits  which  were  as  fine,  though  rarely 
finer,  in  quality,  but  as  a  series  of  representations  of  the  members  of 
one  family,  still  remaining  in  the  house  for  which  they  were  painted,1 
the  Stafford  pictures  may  be  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  most  complete 
expressions  of  what  was  best  in  English  portraiture  in  the  eighteenth 
century. 

The  first  of  them  in  point  of  date  is  the  large  group  of '  Children 
dancing  in  a  Ring,'  one  of  the  most  considerable  compositions  of 
several  figures  he  ever  attempted,  and  certainly  the  finest.  In  this  he 
has  succeeded,  where  both  he  and  his  rivals  often  failed,  in  painting  a 
portrait  group  which  is  dignified  in  composition  ;  an  artistic  '  whole,' 
its  several  parts  bound  together  in  artistic  unity,  not  merely  a  number 
of  well-painted  figures  placed  together  in  somewhat  haphazard  fashion. 
It  is,  in  fact,  a  fine  picture,  as  well  as  a  beautiful  series  of  portraits. 
In  quality  of  flowing  line  and  skilful  rendering  of  form  it  stands  out 
with  an  accent  of  distinction,  holding  its  own  with  any  painting  of  the 
English  school  of  Romney's  day.  These  lovely  children,  dancing  in 
a  round,  seem  alive  with  graceful  motion,  as  their  tripping  feet  skim 
over  the  grass.  The  movement  suggests,  with  complete  success, 
the  measure  of  one  of  those  stately  peasant  dances  which  so  charmed 
Romney  on  his  first  arrival  in  Italy,  and,  no  doubt,  directly  inspired 
this  picture.  He  speaks  of  them  with  delight  more  than  once  in 
his  diary.2    (See  Plate  v.) 

Some  such  dance  as  the  one  he  saw  in  Genoa,  which  caused  him 
to  imagine  himself  in  Arcadia,  must  have  been  in  his  mind  when  he 
painted  the  Stafford  children.  The  colouring  is  exceptionally  good 
and  rich  in  tone,  and  the  figure  of  the  elder  step-sister,  with  tambourine 
held  above  her  shoulder,  is  not  only  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
'  classical '  figures  Romney  ever  designed,  but  the  painting  of  her 
ivory-white  draperies,  with  their  simple,  flowing  lines,  is  perfect. 

1  They  have  been  removed  recently  from  Trentham  Hall  to  Stafford  House. 

2  See  page  64. 

292 


PORTRAITS   OF  THE  STAFFORD  FAMILY 

Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower  says  very  truly,  that  1  Romney 
could  never  have  painted  these  dancing  figures  with  such  force  and 
splendour  of  colour,  had  he  not  studied  the  great  Italian  Colourists 
in  Venice ;  we  know  how  he  loved  to  watch  the  peasants  of  the 
south  of  Europe  dancing  in  the  summer  evenings :  in  his  great  group 
at  Trentham  he  has  given  us,  though  not  peasants,  some  of  the 
most  beautiful  creatures  of  Nature,  instinct  with  the  joy  of  existence, 
as  sportive  as  the  fairies  of  Titania  and  Oberon's  Court.  The  almost 
Grecian  grace  of  the  draperies  in  this  work  of  the  painter's  is  made 
free  by  the  unconventionally  of  the  costumes,  and  in  this  Romney 
showed  his  exquisite  taste.  .  .  .  Especially  noticeable  is  the  drapery  of 
beautiful  ivory  white  in  the  figure  of  Lady  Anne.  No  other  portrait- 
painter  of  the  time,  not  the  great  Sir  Joshua  himself,  ever  painted 
such  perfect  and  refined  drapery  as  this  ;  so  gracefully  does  it  cling  to 
the  form,  and  so  beautifully  are  its  lines  broken  and  blended  at  her 
feet.  The  colouring  of  the  work  is  throughout  harmonious  and 
happy.  Romney  has  indulged  here  freely  in  his  favourite  olive  greens 
and  ambers,  mauve  and  well-toned  vermilion  ;  the  brilliancy  of  the 
dresses  harmonises  well  with  the  deep  green  of  the  foliage,  and 
the  tender  hue  of  an  evening  sky ;  still  more  beautiful  than  dresses 
and  drapery  are  the  fresh  and  brilliant  complexions  of  these  almost 
breathing  children,  and  the  gloss  and  lustre  of  their  fair  and  silky 
hair. ' 

Among  the  best  of  the  Stafford  Romneys  are  the  two  fine 
three-quarter-length  portraits  of  the  youthful  George  Granville,  after- 
wards first  Duke  of  Sutherland,  and  his  sister  Caroline,  Countess 
of  Carlisle.  The  former  is  one  of  the  few  examples  painted  by 
Romney  in  which  he  has  clothed  his  sitter  in  a  costume  of  the 
Van  Dyck  period.  The  high-bred  elegance  of  the  carriage  of  this 
figure,  the  dignity,  almost  insolence,  of  the  expression,  have  been 
rendered  with  real  insight  into  character,  and  the  painting  of  the 
amber-brown  velvet  of  the  doublet,  and  the  claret-coloured  cloak, 
is  both  beautiful  in  colour  and  masterly  in  technical  ability.  The 
picture  of  the  Countess  is  one  of  the  painter's  most  sweet  and 
refined  portraits  of  lovely,  graceful  womanhood,  in  its  first  and  freshest 
beauty.  The  decision  and  energy  of  his  touch  in  the  modelling  of 
the  face  give  it  that  sculpturesque  appearance  which  is  so  characteristic 
a  mark  of  many  of  his  canvases  at  this  period,  while  the  clinging 
salmon-pink  draperies,  which  define  yet  conceal  the  girlish  figure, 
are  reminiscent  of  some  Greek  gem.    (See  Plates  vi.  and  vn.)  Equal 

293 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


beauty,  and  still  greater  delicacy  in  the  modelling  of  the  features  mark 
the  bust-portrait  of  the  young  man's  wife,  the  Duchess-Countess  of 
Sutherland,  while  the  full-length  of  the  father,  Earl  Gower,  in  all  the 
grandeur  of  his  Garter  robes,  at  least  equals  any  of  the  '  state  '  portraits 
Romney  attempted  later  in  his  career. 

Another  fine  series  of  family  portraits  from  his  brush  still  remains 
in  Lathom  House,  Ormskirk.  Unlike  the  Stafford  portraits,  which  all 
belong  to  one  period  of  Romney's  art,  more  than  twenty  years  intervene 
between  the  first  and  last  of  the  Lathom  pictures,  all  of  which  are 
reproduced  in  this  book  through  the  kindness  of  the  Earl  of  Lathom. 
The  earliest  of  them,  that  of  Mrs.  Wilbraham  Bootle,  painted  in  1764, 
has  been  described  on  an  earlier  page.  The  group  of  '  Mrs.  George 
Wilson  and  her  Daughter '  is  one  of  the  simplest  and  most  beautiful 
examples  of  his  '  mother  and  child  '  pictures,  painted  soon  after  his 
return  from  Italy.  The  lady  is  seated  in  profile  to  the  right,  with  her 
head  bent  down  so  that  her  forehead  is  resting  on  her  little  girl's  head. 
The  child  is  standing  behind,  with  arms  folded  on  her  mother's 
left  knee,  the  lower  part  of  her  body  being  hidden  by  the  dress. 
Mrs.  Wilson's  left  arm  encircles  her  daughter,  and  her  right  is  resting 
on  her  own  knee,  the  attitude  being  a  very  natural  and  graceful  one. 
Her  dress,  cut  low  in  the  neck,  and  falling  in  plain,  simple  folds, 
is  of  a  slate-grey  colour,  with  a  brown  girdle,  while  a  dark  olive-green 
cloak — one  of  Romney's  favourite  colours  at  this  period — hangs  over 
her  left  shoulder  and  down  her  back,  and  is  brought  round  and  flung 
across  her  lap,  completely  covering  the  lower  part  of  her  body. 
Her  dark  brown  hair  is  plainly  dressed,  and  her  eyes  are  cast  down, 
with  a  somewhat  sad  expression.  The  child,  with  fair  hair,  cut  short 
and  falling  over  the  forehead,  and  a  plain  white  frock  with  the  sleeves 
turned  up  above  the  elbows,  looks  straight  at  the  spectator,  with 
a  sweet,  far-away  expression.  This  picture,  which  is  in  fine  condition, 
is  one  of  his  most  sculpturesque  groupings,  and  is  very  tenderly 
and  gracefully  painted  and  designed,  while  the  colour,  though  low 
in  tone  throughout,  is  singularly  harmonious  and  beautiful.  It  is, 
indeed,  an  excellent  example  of  Romney's  first  post-Italian  manner, 
when  the  influence  of  the  great  masters  was  still  freshly  upon  him  ;  and 
it  embodies  what  was  best,  most  natural,  and  most  original  in  his  art. 

The  pair  of  three-quarter  length  portraits  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richard 
Wilbraham  Bootle,  in  the  prime  of  life,  painted  in  1784,  again  show 
him  at  his  finest.    Although  the  more  direct  influence  of  his  Italian 
studies  is  now  less  apparent,  more  particularly  in  the  design  and 
294 


BERKELEY  AND  KEPPEL  CRAVEN 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  LADY  o'HAGAN 

Page  334 


PLATE  LX 


THOMAS  (IROVE  OF  FERNE 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  SIR  WALTER  GROVE,  BT. 

l'*g*  334 


PORTRAITS   OF  THE  BOOTLE  FAMILY 


the  arrangement  of  the  draperies,  the  immense  impetus  given  to 
his  art  by  his  sojourn  abroad  is  still  more  evident.  It  is  more 
matured,  especially  in  craftsmanship,  and  richer  in  colour;  freer  in 
handling,  but  yet  careful  and  restrained  when  compared  with  his 
later  work,  which  was  often  slovenly  and  perfunctory,  and  both 
more  rapid  and  less  truthful  in  the  painting  of  the  accessories.  Mrs. 
Bootle  is  shown  full-face,  seated.  A  white  silk  scarf  is  wound  round 
her  powdered  hair,  from  which  one  ringlet  falls  upon  her  neck.  Her 
pale  blue  dress  is  cut  low,  and  filled  in  with  transparent  white  silk. 
She  wears  an  elaborate  caped  cloak  of  white  watered  silk,  trimmed 
with  dark  brown  fur,  and  her  hands,  covered  with  long  grey  gloves, 
are  hidden  in  a  large  fur  muff.  The  background  consists  of  a 
pillar  and  curtains  on  the  right,  and  on  the  left  a  glimpse  of 
sea  and  coast  above  a  stone  parapet,  on  which  a  classical  urn  is 
standing.    (See  Plate  xxvur.) 

Her  husband  is  shown  seated  in  a  landscape,  with  body  turned  to 
the  right,  and  his  rather  fat  face,  of  ruddy  complexion,  looking 
towards  the  spectator.  He  is  wearing  a  grey  bob-wig  tied  with  a 
black  ribbon,  a  puce-coloured  coat,  yellow-brown  waistcoat  buttoned 
up  to  the  neck,  dark  breeches,  and  white  silk  stockings.  He 
holds  his  hat  in  his  left  hand,  and  a  gold-headed  cane  in  his  right. 
The  arm-chair  in  which  he  is  posed  is  covered  with  olive-green 
embroidery.  It  is  one  of  Romney's  most  vigorous  and  direct  repre- 
sentations of  a  substantial  man  of  mature  years.    (See  Plate  xxix.) 

The  full-length  group  of  their  two  young  sons,  Edward  Wilbraham 
and  Randle  Bootle,  in  a  landscape,  is  some  years  later  in  date. 
The  younger  of  the  two  is  seated  on  a  high  rock  on  the  left,  looking 
down  at  his  brother,  and  holding  a  book  in  his  hands.  The  elder  boy 
stands  with  his  right  elbow  resting  on  the  boulder,  and  a  long  gun 
in  his  left  hand.  He  wears  a  long-tailed  red  coat  with  gilt  buttons, 
fastened  across  the  waist,  pale  brown  breeches,  and  high  boots ;  while 
his  brother  has  a  black  coat,  breeches  of  a  darker  brown,  and  white 
silk  stockings  and  shoes  with  silver  buckles.  They  have  flung  their 
hats  upon  the  ground.  Each  of  them  wears  his  hair  long  upon  the 
shoulders,  the  elder  boy's  being  of  a  lighter  chestnut-red  than  his 
companion's.  The  background,  which  is  very  sketchily  indicated,  and 
rather  empty  and  poor,  represents  high  rocks  with  trees  on  their 
summit  on  the  right,  and  a  big  waterfall  in  the  centre,  with  hills  and 
clouds  beyond,  and  on  the  left  some  tree-trunks  above  the  rocks 
by  which  the  boys  are  grouped.    Both  of  the  youths  are  handsome, 

295 


GEORGE  ROMJSTE  Y 


with  a  sweet  expression  of  face,  and  the  canvas  is  in  many  ways  one 
of  Romney's  most  notable  studies  of  childhood.    (See  Plate  xxx.) 

Another  collection  which  is  rich  in  family  portraits  by  Romney 
is  that  of  the  Earl  of  Crewe,  at  Fryston  Hall,  Yorkshire.  Excellent 
photographs  of  five  of  them  were  taken  by  Messrs.  Braun  in  1905. 
The  most  interesting  of  these  is  the  three-quarter  length  of  Miss 
Hannah  Milnes,  which  was  painted  in  the  period  more  immediately 
under  discussion  in  this  chapter.  She  is  represented  as  seated  on 
some  steps  at  the  base  of  a  stone  pillar,  with  her  head  leaning  on 
her  right  arm,  which  rests  upon  the  stone  work,  the  hand  hanging 
down  and  the  fingers  touching  her  breast.  Her  body  is  turned  to  the 
left,  and  in  her  left  hand  she  holds  a  mask  which  she  has  just  taken 
off.  She  looks  full-face  at  the  spectator,  with  lips  slightly  parted 
in  a  faint  smile,  showing  her  teeth.  She  has  dark  eyes,  and  dark 
hair  dressed  high,  with  a  long  curl  falling  over  her  left  shoulder 
and  reaching  to  her  waist.  A  silk  gauze  scarf  with  a  coloured 
pattern  is  entwined  among  her  locks,  and  hangs  down  her  back,  and 
she  wears  a  sash  of  the  same  material.  Her  dress  is  a  light  one,  with 
a  sprigged  pattern  of  a  star-like  flower.  This  portrait  is  a  very 
animated  one,  and  both  original  and  effective  in  arrangement. 

The  portrait  of  this  lady's  mother,  Mrs.  Shore  Milnes,  is  probably 
a  few  years  later  in  date.  Her  hair  is  grey  or  powdered,  and  upon  it 
she  wears  a  large  lace  cap,  with  a  white  scarf  over  it,  tied  under 
her  chin.  A  white  fichu  is  crossed  over  the  breast,  and  the  rest  of 
her  dress  is  hidden  by  a  large  black  cloak,  trimmed  with  black  lace. 
It  is  an  excellent  example  of  Romney's  power  of  giving  a  sympathetic 
rendering  of  an  elderly  lady,  with  a  fine  and  dignified  face. 

The  two  full  -  lengths  of  Robert  Shore  Milnes,  who  was  made 
a  baronet  in  1801,  and  his  wife,  are  of  a  still  later  period.  The  portrait 
of  the  lady  is  mentioned  elsewhere  ; 1  that  of  her  husband  is  a  charac- 
teristic example  of  the  artist's  'full  dress '  representations  of  men  of 
rank  and  fashion.  He  stands  in  a  landscape,  full-front,  with  head 
turned  to  the  right,  in  the  uniform  of  the  Horse  Guards,  with  a 
gold -braided,  long- tailed,  dark  blue  coat,  white  cravat,  waistcoat, 
breeches  and  stockings,  and  an  epaulette  on  the  left  shoulder.  His 
left  hand  rests  on  his  sword,  and  his  right  touches  his  waist.  A 
white-and-tan  setter  is  seated  at  his  feet,  looking  up  at  him.  The 
landscape  background  includes  some  hilly  country  and  a  town  on 
the  seashore  in  the  distance,  and  in  the  foreground  a  tall  tree-trunk 

1  See  page  32(5. 

296 


HIS   'CLASSICAL'  PORTRAITS 


on  the  right,  from  which  a  branch  stretches  across  the  top  of  the 
canvas. 

A  fifth  picture  at  Fryston  is  the  '  Portrait  of  a  Lady  '  with  a  pretty 
face,  represented  to  the  waist,  almost  full-face,  with  hair  powdered  and 
falling  in  curls  on  her  neck.  She  wears  a  large  '  mushroom '  hat 
covered  with  white  muslin,  and  a  white  dress  of  the  customary  pattern, 
with  a  fichu,  the  lower  part  of  the  figure  being  covered  with  a  cloak 
which  has  slipped  from  her  shoulders.  It  is  one  of  his  slight  and 
'  sketchy '  summaries  of  the  superficial  beauties  of  a  pretty  girl. 

A  predominant  note  of  what  may  be  called  his  pre-Hamiltonian 
portraiture  is  its  frank  '  classicism,'  more  particularly  in  the  pose  of  the 
sitter,  and  the  arrangement  of  the  draperies,  based  upon  an  intense 
admiration  for  the  masterpieces  of  ancient  Greek  sculptural  art,  to 
the  beauty  of  which  his  eyes  had  been  so  recently  opened.  It  is  upon 
such  pictures  as  those  of  the  Countess  of  Mansfield,  the  Countess  of 
Derby,  the  daughters  of  Lord  Malmesbury,  or  Hester,  Countess 
Fortescue,  and  her  sister,  to  mention  only  portraits  of  ladies,  that  his 
fame  must  rest  most  securely  in  the  future ;  or  such  lovely  work  as 
'  Serena  '  or  '  The  Sempstress  ' ;  or,  in  turning  to  childhood,  upon  such 
groups  as  Mrs.  Stables  and  her  little  ones,  the  Gower,  Clavering, 
Cornewall,  Derby,  and  other  children,  Lady  Russell  and  her  little  boy, 
and  Mrs.  Carwardine  and  her  baby. 

The  portrait  of  Lady  Stormont,  afterwards  Countess  of  Mansfield, 
engraved  by  J.  R.  Smith  in  1780,  possesses  merits  of  an  exceptionally 
high  order,  and  is  certainly  one  of  the  finest  as  well  as  one  of  the  most 
original  paintings  of  the  English  school  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It 
is  as  pure  and  chaste  in  design  as  an  antique  gem,  from  which  Romney 
may  well  have  adapted  it,  and  it  shows  to  the  best  advantage  how 
much  he  had  gained  from  his  visit  to  Italy ;  and  how  free  from  any 
taint  of  affectation  was  his  admiration  for  his  models.  She  is  seated 
on  the  ground  beneath  a  tree,  with  arms  folded  and  knees  crossed  in 
a  simple,  graceful  attitude,  with  a  far-away  look  in  her  eyes,  as  though 
she  were  in  the  midst  of  pleasant  day-dreams.  Her  dress  is  based  upon 
classical  models,  such  as  Romney  always  best  loved  to  paint,  and  has 
been  very  carefully  studied.  It  is  of  pale  yellow,  with  a  pale  lavender 
cloak  or  scarf  falling  from  her  shoulders  and  draped  over  her  lap. 
This  lady  was  a  younger  sister  of  the  lovely  Mrs.  Graham  whose 
portrait,  to  which  so  interesting  a  story  is  attached,  is  now  in  the 
National  Gallery  of  Scotland.  The  latter  is  a  superb  example  of 
Gainsborough's  light  and  vivacious  touch,  but  Romney's  portrait  is,  in 

297 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


a  different  way,  just  as  fine  a  work,  more  serious  and  reserved,  more 
severe  in  its  treatment,  but  possessing  a  sculpturesque  beauty,  and  a 
delicacy  and  subtlety  in  its  simple  colour  scheme  which  even  Reynolds 
has  rarely  bettered.  A  critic,  speaking  of  this  portrait  when  it  was 
exhibited  in  the  Winter  Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  1878, 
sums  up  its  merits  well  by  saying  that  'Romney,  as  a  colourist  of  the 
purest,  finest  order,  painting  with  a  fresco-like  lucidity  and  brightness, 
as  a  designer  in  the  finest  classic  motive,  is  best  seen  in  this  portrait, 
the  "  classic  "  of  the  English  school.' 

The  earlier  of  the  two  portraits  Romney  painted  of  Henrietta, 
Countess  of  Warwick,  greatly  resembles  the  '  Lady  Mansfield.'  She, 
too,  is  seated  with  her  arms  folded  in  her  lap ;  the  hands  are  admirably 
painted.  The  head,  with  the  hair  dressed  high  above  the  forehead  and 
ringlets  at  the  back  of  the  neck,  and  a  thin  scarf  of  patterned  silk 
entwined  among  the  tresses,  is  placed  effectively  against  the  dark 
foliage  of  the  trees  in  the  background ;  the  arrangement  of  the 
draperies,  and  the  tender  earnestness  of  the  expression,  have  very 
much  in  common  with  the  former  picture,  and  also  with  the  '  Lady 
Carlisle '  already  described,  and  a  number  of  other  portraits  of  about 
this  date.  This  mode  of  dressing  the  hair,  with  the  entwined  band, 
usually  white  with  some  coloured  pattern,  is  sufficient  evidence  to  give 
an  approximate  date  to  a  number  of  his  portraits;  and  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  'Lady  Kenyon,'  'Lady  Hanmer,'  and  others  illustrated  in  this 
book.  It  was  this  picture  which  called  forth  Hayley's  verses  entitled 
'  Venus  to  Lady  W arwick.'  An  equally  beautiful  example  is  the 
portrait  of  this  lady's  sister,  Miss  Vernon,  as  Hebe,  belonging  to  the 
Earl  of  Warwick,  with  an  antique  ewer  raised  in  her  hands,  and  her 
gaze  directed  upwards,  one  of  his  simplest  and  most  lovely  creations. 

A  third  portrait,  much  akin  to  the  foregoing,  another  seated  figure 
in  a  landscape,  is  the  '  Countess  of  Derby,'  Lady  Betty  Hamilton, 
daughter  of  the  famous  Elizabeth  Gunning,  Duchess  of  Hamilton,  now 
in  the  possession  of  Sir  Edward  Tennant.  She,  too,  gazes  upwards, 
with  knees  crossed,  and  one  hand  touching  her  chin,  clad  in  a  white 
dress  with  a  white  brocaded  skirt.  This  picture  has  just  the  same 
dignity,  simplicity  without  affectation,  and  delicate  charm  of  colour. 
The  drawing  is  admirable,  the  modelling  broad,  and  the  carnations 
fresh,  fine,  and  true.1    Still  more  severe  in  its  search  for  a  classic 

1  According  to  Lady  Russell  this  portrait  was  bought  in  Paris  by  the  late  Lord  Granville,  and 
sold  by  the  lady's  great-grandson  to  Sir  Charles  Tennant.  It  was  engraved  by  John  Dean  in 
1780. 

298 


PORTRAITS   OF  VARIOUS  LADIES 


simplicity,  and  even  more  frankly  '  antique '  in  its  arrangement  and 
'  dressing,'  is  the  dual  portrait  of  the  Misses  Grenville,  Hester,  Coun- 
tess Fortescue,  and  her  sister,  belonging  to  Mr.  J.  B.  Fortescue,  of 
Dropmore.  The  ladies  are  seated  in  front  of  a  small  sacrificial  altar 
or  tripod,  from  which  the  smoke  of  incense  arises.  One  is  dressed  in 
white  and  the  other  in  a  dark  robe,  and  each  with  bare  arms.  The 
face  of  the  younger  girl,  seen  in  profile,  has  a  purity  of  design  which, 
once  again,  can  be  best  likened  to  a  Greek  gem.  She  holds  a  small 
dish  into  which  her  sister,  seen  full  face,  is  pouring  liquid  from  an 
ewer,  of  the  same  pattern  as  the  one  carried  by  Miss  Vernon  in  the 
'  Hebe '  picture,  and  used  by  Romney  again  some  years  later  in  the 
portrait  of  Mrs.  Jordan  which  recently  belonged  to  Sir  Cuthbert 
Quilter.  The  classical  suggestion  is  carried  into  the  background, 
with  its  distant  yew  trees  and  rounded  pillar  seen  against  the  sky. 

In  the  portrait  of  the  '  Daughters  of  Lord  Malmesbury '  the 
arrangement  of  the  two  figures  is  much  the  same  as  the  foregoing, 
though  here  the  lady  in  the  darker  dress  is  standing,  looking  down  at 
her  sister,  who  is  seen  in  profile,  the  head  raised,  gazing  up  into  the 
sky,  and  chin  resting  on  her  left  hand.  The  dresses  are  more  studied 
than  in  the  Grenville  picture,  though  very  simply  arranged  in  large 
folds,  and  produce  that  sculpturesque  effect  which,  as  has  been  noted, 
is  one  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  Romney  s  art  at  this  period.  The 
group  is  dignified  in  conception,  though  the  figures  are,  perhaps,  too 
much  crowded  to  one  side  of  the  canvas,  the  large  opening  on  the 
right,  through  which  nothing  is  to  be  discerned  but  the  top  of  a  tree 
and  a  wide  expanse  of  sky,  producing  a  somewhat  empty  effect. 

An  interesting  full-length  of  the  year  1778  was  shown  at  Messrs. 
Agnew's  Winter  Exhibition  in  1906.  This  was  the  portrait  of 
Elizabeth  Capel,  daughter  of  the  fourth  Earl  of  Essex,  who  had 
married  John,  third  Lord  Monson,  in  the  previous  year.  She  is  shown 
standing  to  the  right,  with  her  left  arm  resting  on  a  stone  pedestal, 
and  her  two  hands  clasped  .upon  its  edge.  She  has  brown  hair,  dressed 
high,  bound  with  a  gold  ribbon,  and  falling  on  the  back  of  the  neck  ; 
and  wears  a  pink  robe,  arranged  in  simple  folds,  with  a  blue  sash  with 
gold  tassel,  and  white  sleeves  bound  with  gold  bands  above  the  elbow. 
A  golden  brown  shawl  is  throAvn  over  the  pedestal.  The  draperies  are 
very  finely  painted,  and  the  figure  is  a  graceful  one,  the  whole  being- 
painted  in  his  most  '  classical '  manner.  The  background  is  a  very 
elaborate  landscape,  in  shadow  on  the  right,  with  a  large  circular 
building  on  the  rising  ground  above  the  figure — evidently  a  recollection 

299 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


of  Rome — surrounded  by  tall  trees.  A  stream,  badly  painted,  runs 
down  the  wooded  slope. 

A  full-length  of  a  young  girl,  Miss  Sage,  painted  in  1779,  was 
included  in  the  same  exhibition.  She  is  shown  walking  in  a  landscape 
towards  the  left,  her  face  turned  to  the  front,  wearing  a  white  satin 
dress,  cut  low,  with  elbow  sleeves,  the  over-skirt  bunched  up  at  the 
waist  as  in  the  portrait  of  Maria  Clavering,  and  a  long  red  scarf 
fastened  at  the  shoulder  and  waist,  blown  out  at  the  back  by  the  wind 
like  the  scarf  in  the  same  picture.  She  holds  a  bunch  of  roses  to  her 
breast,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  figure  is  seen  against  a  gloomy  sky. 
She  has  dark  eyes,  and  dark-brown  hair  falling  in  curls  upon  her  neck. 
Tree-trunks  fill  the  background  on  the  right,  and,  on  the  left,  a  distant 
landscape,  trees  and  hills,  with  a  glimpse  of  seashore,  such  as  Romney 
was  fond  of  introducing  into  his  out-door  portraits. 

One  other  full-length  may  be  mentioned,  which  was  at  Messrs. 
Agnew's  in  1905,  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Scott  Jackson.  This  is  another 
of  his  sculpturesque  and  solidly  painted  likenesses  of  a  handsome  lady, 
in  which  the  draperies  have  been  carefully  elaborated  but  are  a  little 
hard.  She  is  walking  in  a  landscape  towards  the  right,  her  head 
turned  towards  the  spectator.  The  details  of  the  costume  and  the 
dressing  of  the  brown  hair  are  much  the  same  as  in  the  portrait  of 
Lady  Monson.  Her  gown  is  of  pale  lilac  with  white  elbow  sleeves ; 
a  scarf  of  green  with  thin  gold  bands  hangs  from  the  back  of  the  neck, 
and  is  brought  round  the  waist,  where  it  is  held  by  both  hands.  The 
background  is  of  dark  tree-trunks,  with  an  open  forest  glade  on  the 
left. 

Many  other  beautiful  portraits  were  painted  by  him  between  1776 
and  1782,  such  as  those  of  the  Countess  of  Clanricarde  ;  the  two  lovely 
Ramus  sisters,  whom  Gainsborough  also  painted  together,  in  one  of 
his  happiest  moments,  a  picture  which  unhappily  perished  by  fire  a 
few  years  ago  ;  Lady  Augusta  Murray  ;  Lady  Willoughby  de  Broke  ; 
the  Countess  of  Westmorland  ;  Lady  Craven  ;  Lady  Elizabeth  Comp- 
ton  ;  Mrs.  Davenport ;  and  a  number  of  others  equally  fine. 

The  portrait  of  the  Countess  of  Clanricarde,  in  the  possession  of 
Sir  Hugh  P.  Lane,  a  half-length,  is  an  exceptionally  beautiful  example 
of  this  period.  (See  Plate  xxxiii.)  The  sweetness  and  gentle  dignity 
of  the  expression,  the  elegant  poise  of  the  head  and  action  of  the  hand 
which  holds  the  folds  of  the  cloak,  slipping  from  her  shoulders,  together 
at  her  breast,  have  been  very  admirably  set  upon  the  canvas.  The 
subject  inspired  him,  and,  as  a  result,  his  art  is  seen  in  one  of  its  purest 
300 


PORTRAITS   OF  THE  MISSES  RAMUS 

manifestations.  The  head  stands  out  against  a  dark,  cloudy  back- 
ground, as  in  the  portrait  of  Miss  Ramus,  belonging  to  the  Hon. 
W.  F.  D.  Smith,  M.P.  (See  Plate  xxxiv.)  The  latter  is  of  the  more 
usual  type  of  his  smaller  portraits,  particularly  in  the  simple  arrange- 
ment of  the  dress,  cut  low  in  the  front,  in  which  the  arms  from  the 
elbow  downwards  are  not  shown.  The  masses  of  her  dark  hair, 
dressed  high,  with  a  ringlet  falling  on  the  back  of  the  neck,  form  an 
admirable  foil  to  her  delicately  chiselled  features.  The  portrait  of  her 
elder  sister,  Miss  Benedetta  Ramus,  in  the  same  collection,  is  more 
vivacious  in  expression,  and  is  exceptional  in  that  it  is  one  of  the  rare 
instances  in  which  Romney  has  depicted  a  sitter  with  a  smiling  face. 
(See  Plate  xxxv.)  The  pose,  too,  is  more  original,  and  very  successful. 
The  lady  leans  with  her  chin  resting  on  her  hands,  which  are  folded 
over  a  volume  of  Shakespeare,  set  upright  upon  a  small  mahogany 
table.  Her  white  dress  has  short  sleeves  of  elaborate  lace  work,  and 
the  arms  are  bare  from  the  elbow.  It  is  a  very  fresh  and  attractive 
picture,  and  like  its  companion,  delicately  drawn,  and,  though  a  little 
cold  in  colour,  well  painted. 

Throughout  the  reign  of  George  in.  many  members  of  the  Ramus 
family,  which  was  of  Swiss  extraction,  filled  minor  posts  about  the 
Court.  The  head  of  the  family  was  possibly  that  Isaac  Ramus  who, 
in  an  obituary  notice  in  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine,  under  the  date  of 
February  8th,  1779,  is  said  to  have  been  *  one  of  the  pages  of  the  Back 
Stairs  to  his  Majesty,  a  native  of  Switzerland,  and  an  old  and  faithful 
servant  to  the  present  royal  family.'  At  that  period  Nicholas  and 
William  Ramus  were  pages  of  the  Back  Stairs,  Thomas  Ramus  was  a 
page  of  the  Bed-Chamber,  and  three  other  members  of  the  family, 
Charles,  Joseph,  and  Louis,  held  offices  in  his  Majesty's  Kitchen. 
Charles  was  also  secretary  to  the  Princess-Dowager  of  Wales.  Miss 
Benedetta  Ramus  was  the  elder  daughter  of  Nicholas  Ramus.  She 
and  her  sister  were  painted  by  Gainsborough  in  the  very  beautiful 
group  which  realised  £6615  at  Christie's  in  1873,  and  £9975  in  1889, 
and  was  unfortunately  destroyed  in  the  fire  at  Waddesdon  when  in  the 
collection  of  Baron  Ferdinand  de  Rothschild.  Gainsborough  also 
painted  the  portrait  of  their  brother,  or  uncle,  William,  which  was 
exhibited  in  the  Royal  Academy  in  1783.  Benedetta  married  Sir 
John  Day,  Judge  Advocate- General  of  Bengal,  who  was  knighted  in 
1777.  It  is  in  connection  with  the  bestowal  of  this  honour  that 
George  in.  is  said  to  have  perpetrated  his  one  and  only  witticism,  for 
when  bidding  Sir  John  to  rise  he  complained  that  he  had  turned  Day 

301 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


into  Knight !  The  younger  Miss  Ramus  married  Emmanuel  Marie 
Louis,  Marquis  de  Noailles,  a  well-known  French  diplomatist,  who 
was  Ambassador  to  England  from  1776  to  1783.  Romney  painted 
the  two  portraits  of  the  sisters  shortly  after  his  return  from  Italy. 

The  '  Lady  Augusta  Murray,'  afterwards  Duchess  of  Sussex,  is  one 
of  his  most  frankly  classical  performances.  (See  Plate  xxxvi.)  The 
lady's  dark  hair  is  unpowdered,  and  falls  in  natural  ringlets  on  the 
shoulders.  The  dress,  with  its  simple,  flowing  lines,  is  one  of  Romney '& 
own  devising,  with  little  likeness  to  anything  his  fair  sitters  would  wear 
outside  the  studio.  She  is  seated  by  a  table,  with  her  right  elbow 
resting  upon  it,  and  supporting  her  portfolio,  and  is  looking  up  at  a 
small  statuette  on  a  pedestal,  which  she  has  been  drawing,  her  sketch 
and  crayon  in  either  hand.  The  picture  belongs  to  Mr.  Charles 
Wertheimer.  The  portrait  of  Lady  Willoughby  de  Broke,  publicly 
exhibited  for  the  first  time  in  the  Birmingham  Art  Gallery,  in  1903, 
is  another  fine  example,  displaying  unusual  insight  into  character  as 
depicted  in  the  somewhat  severe  features  of  the  sitter,  no  longer  in 
her  first  youth,  and  with  no  great  pretensions  to  beauty.  The  draw- 
ing of  the  left  arm  is  a  little  flat  and  awkward,  but  the  folds  of  the 
white  dress,  which  have  been  considered  with  unusual  care,  are  very 
finely  painted.  The  profile  portrait  of  Mrs.  Blanshard,  seen  to  the 
waist,  the  features  standing  out  strongly  against  a  dark  background, 
is  another  good  example  of  his  '  Greek  '  type.    (See  Plate  xxxvu.) 

Romney 's  numerous  pictures  of  '  Serena,'  the  heroine  of  Hayley's 
Triumphs  of  Temper,  have  been  already  described.1  The  one  illus- 
trated here,  belonging  to  Major  Thurlow,  the  only  one  in  which  she 
is  shown  full-face,  which  was  probably  painted  in  the  autumn  of  1780, 
when  Hay  ley  was  hard  at  work  upon  the  poem  during  Romney 's 
yearly  visit  to  Eartham,  is  the  finest  of  all.  She  is  represented  as 
seated  upon  a  low  sofa,  her  feet  raised  upon  a  stool,  reading,  by  the 
light  of  a  candle,  a  book  which  she  holds  with  her  hands  resting  upon 
her  knees.  This  is  one  of  the  most  purely  beautiful  of  all  his  works, 
designed  in  the  simplest  and  finest  taste.  Piquancy  is  added  to  the 
sweet  face  by  the  quaint  high  white  cap,  with  its  broad  ribbon, 
which  conceals  the  ears,  and  almost  covers  the  hair.  The  white 
dress  is  plain  almost  to  severity,  and  is  treated  broadly  with  little 
attempt  at  elaborated  folds.  This  is  the  kind  of  subject — the 
natural  and  unconscious  simplicity  of  girlhood — which  no  one  painted 
better  than  Romney,  and  in  which  he  was  completely  successful. 

1  See  pages  123-9. 

302 


'SERENA  READING' 


The  charm  of  it  is  abiding,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  both  subject 
and  sitter  made  an  irresistible  appeal  to  the  happiest  side  of  the 
painter's  nature.    (See  Frontispiece.) 

Southey,1  writing  of  one  of  the  versions  of  the  '  Serena,'  well 
describes  its  fascination  when  he  says :  '  The  artist  has  known  how 
to  conceive  and  represent  that  perfect  loveliness,  which  is  only  to  be 
found  when  the  features,  even  when  most  beautiful,  derive  their 
peculiar  charm  from  the  sweetness  and  gentleness  of  disposition 
which  the  countenance  expresses.' 

Mr.  Sidney  Colvin,  too,  gives  an  admirable  description  of  Major 
Thurlow's  picture  in  the  paper  from  which  extracts  have  been  quoted 
on  an  earlier  page.  '  Let  us  turn,'  he  says,  '  to  an  example  of  him 
which  shows  him  at  his  very  best,  holding  out  a  hand  to  Reynolds  by 
the  perfection  of  tender  grace  in  portraiture,  and  to  Flaxman  by  the 
perfection  of  monumental  symmetry  and  simplicity.  Our  '  Girl  Read- 
ing '  (after  a  somewhat  weak  and  stippled  engraving  by  Jones)  is  such 
an  example.  See  the  simple  pyramid  she  makes,  sitting  on  the 
solitary  sofa  with  her  feet  tucked  up  on  a  high  stool,  and  the  dress 
falling  in  a  great  plain  surface  over  her  knees  on  to  the  pretty 
peeping  toes  of  her  shoes ;  the  elbows  resting  on  the  knees,  the 
body  bowed  over  the  book,  the  delicate  bowed  features  and  sweet 
eyebrows  drooped  for  reading;  the  great  tall  mob-cap,  a  tower 
on  the  top  of  the  pyramid,  the  lovely  little  rings  of  hair  symmetri- 
cally escaping,  one  in  the  middle,  and  one  or  two  at  each  side ;  the 
delicate  whiteness  and  virginity ;  the  gravity  in  charm,  the  sweetness 
in  reserve.' 

The  other  versions  of  '  Serena  Reading,'  in  which  she  is  shown,  in 
profile,  seated  in  her  chamber,  just  as  intently  engrossed  in  her  book, 
with  the  candle  burnt  down  to  its  socket,  and  the  light  of  breaking 
dawn  growing  clearer  every  moment  through  the  open  window,  are 
only  in  a  degree  less  charming  than  the  first  one.  A  picture  some- 
what akin  to  these  in  sentiment  and  purity  of  style  is  the  portrait  of 
Miss  Lucy  Vernon,  better  known  as  '  The  Sempstress.'  This  is  a  most 
graceful  and  natural  figure,  in  a  white  dress  and  sunbonnet,  seated  out 
of  doors,  with  head  bent  down  to  her  sewing.  A  very  interesting  study 
for  it,  which  is  reproduced  in  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell's  book,  is  in  the 
possession  of  Captain  Josceline  Bagot,  M.P.  In  this  a  dog  is  shown, 
lying  by  the  side  of  the  chair,  which  is  omitted  from  the  finished 
picture. 

1  Quoted  by  Allan  Cunningham. 

303 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


The  later  portrait  of  Cumberland's  elder  daughter,  Elizabeth,  who 
married  Lord  Edward  Cavendish  Bentinck,  second  son  of  the  second 
Duke  of  Portland,  in  1782,  is  one  of  the  best  known  of  Romney's 
pictures,  owing  to  John  Raphael  Smith's  fine  mezzotint  of  it,  published  in 
1779,  and  to  various  later  reproductions  in  books  relating  to  the  artist. 
It  was  lent  to  the  Royal  Academy  by  Lord  Hillingdon  in  1891,  and 
has  been  exhibited  more  than  once  since  then.  It  is  a  half-length, 
the  figure  turned  to  the  right,  looking  towards  the  spectator,  and 
wearing  a  white  cloak  with  bands  of  frilling  and  a  large  white 
hat  with  blue  ribbons  tied  under  the  chin,  and  the  hands  hidden 
within  a  muff.  It  is  a  picture  of  the  greatest  attraction,  and  one 
of  the  most  striking  examples  which  can  be  cited  as  a  proof  of 
the  wonderful  improvement  which  Romney's  art  underwent  from 
his  studies  in  Italy.  He  painted  the  lady's  mother  and  sister  at  the 
same  time,  all  three  being  gifts  from  the  artist  to  his  friend  and 
patron. 

Another  half-length  portrait  of  the  same  type,  and  about  the  same 
period,  as  the  portrait  of  Miss  Cumberland,  is  that  of  'Mrs.  Davenport,' 
belonging  to  Mr.  W.  Bromley  Davenport,  which  was  in  the  Royal 
Academy  Winter  Exhibitions  of  1878  and  1892.  She  was  Charlotte, 
daughter  of  Ralph  Sneyd,  of  Keele,  Staffordshire,  born  in  1756,  a 
cousin  of  that  Honora  Sneyd  whom  Romney  never  painted,  although 
her  name  is  usually  attached  to  the  '  Serena '  pictures.  Charlotte 
Sneyd  married  Davies  Davenport,  of  Capesthorne,  M.P.  for  Cheshire, 
in  1777.  He  has  painted  her  with  her  face  turned  over  her  left 
shoulder  towards  the  spectator,  in  a  pink  fur-trimmed  dress,  and  a 
broad-brimmed  white  straw  hat  with  a  brown  bow.  It  has  a  little 
of  the  hardness  and  dryness  of  which  traces  still  lingered  in  his  work 
for  the  first  few  years  after  his  return  from  abroad,  but  the  lovely 
face  with  its  very  winning  expression,  is  one  of  his  most  sympathetic 
transcripts  of  fresh  English  girlhood.  It  was  well  mezzotinted  by 
John  Jones  in  1784. 

A  portrait  very  similar  in  arrangement  and  style,  and  of  about  the 
same  date  as  those  of  the  Countess  of  Carlisle  and  the  Duchess- 
Countess  of  Sutherland,  is  that  of  Lady  Emilia  Kerr,  daughter  of 
William,  fourth  Marquis  of  Lothian,  who  married  Lieut. -General 
Sir  John  McCleod  in  1783.  It  is  an  oval,  showing  her  seated  to  the 
left,  with  her  head,  gracefully  poised  on  a  long  slender  neck,  turned 
towards  the  spectator.  Her  pink  dress,  with  gold  bands  and  trim- 
ming, open  at  the  breast,  is  arranged  in  classic  folds,  and  her  hair, 
304 


PORTRAITS  OF  VARIOUS  LADIES 


entwined  with  pearls  and  a  pink  riband,  is  dressed  high  above  the 
forehead,  with  heavy  ringlets  at  the  back  of  the  neck.  The  head 
stands  out  against  a  dark  sky,  while  low  down  on  the  left  is  shown 
Romney's  favourite  glimpse  of  sea  coast.  According  to  a  writer 
in  the  Times1  it  was  painted  in  1779,  the  painter  receiving  eighteen 
guineas  for  it;  Messrs.  Colnaghi  and  Company  gave  £2730  for  it 
at  Christie's  on  May  7th,  1905.  This  portrait  was  given  to  Lady 
Caroline  Darner  by  the  sitter  in  exchange  for  Lady  Caroline's,  also 
by  Romney. 

A  second  portrait  of  about  the  same  date  as  the  two  last  examples 
is  that  of  Miss  Frances  Harford,  in  the  Frick  Collection  in  America. 
Though  not  so  fine  a  work  as  the  Duchess-Countess  of  Sutherland,  it 
is  painted  in  the  same  style,  and  closely  follows  it  in  arrangement  of 
pose,  hair,  and  draperies. 

Another  good  portrait  belonging  to  this  time  is  the  one  of  the 
Hon.  Lucy  Stanley,  exhibited  at  Messrs.  Sulley's  Gallery  in  1906. 
She  is  represented  at  almost  full  length,  seated  on  a  bank  under  some 
trees,  in  a  white  dress  of  simple  folds,  crossed  over  at  the  breast,  and 
fastened  with  a  jewel  at  each  shoulder.  A  long  purple  scarf  falls  from 
the  back  of  the  neck  to  the  ground,  with  the  ends  thrown  over  the 
knees.  Her  dark  hair,  with  ringlets,  is  dressed  high,  and  ornamented 
with  a  small  diamond  brooch,  and  a  green  and  gold  gauze  scarf  of  the 
pattern  already  described.  The  draperies  are  arranged,  as  usual,  in 
plain  folds  of  his  ordinary  '  classic '  pattern,  and  the  type  of  the  face, 
and  its  colouring,  recall  such  a  portrait  as  the  oval  of  '  Lady  Craven ' 
in  the  National  Gallery. 

One  other  example  of  this  type,  a  bust  portrait,  an  oval  in  a 
square,  probably  painted  between  1778  and  1780,  or  perhaps  a  few 
years  later,  representing  '  Miss  Eleanor  Carter,'  was  in  the  Winter 
Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy,  1906,  No.  58,  lent  by  the  Earl 
of  Yarborough.  The  sitter  is  turned  to  the  left,  with  the  face 
three-quarters  to  the  front,  dressed  in  a  white  bodice,  cut  low,  with 
blue  silk  elbow  sleeves  trimmed  with  white  fur  looped  with  pearls. 
Her  hair,  partly  in  powder,  is  dressed  high  over  the  forehead,  with 
a  long  curl  falling  at  the  back  of  the  neck.  It  is  the  portrait  of  a 
pretty  and  charming  girl,  with  a  sweet  and  serious  expression  in  her 
brown  eyes. 

The  year  before  he  met  Lady  Hamilton,  he  painted  the  two  hand- 
some daughters  of  Sir  Robert  Gunning,  both  half-lengths.    They  are 

1  May  8th,  1905. 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


the  property  of  Sir  Frederick  Gunning,  Bart,  and  were  included  in 
Messrs.  Agnew  and  Sons'  Exhibition  in  1905,  and  are  reproduced 
in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower's  book.  The  elder  daughter, 
Charlotte  Margaret,  who  married  Colonel  the  Honourable  Stephen 
Digby  in  1790,  has  chestnut  hair  slightly  in  powder,  with  a  pale 
grey  veil  over  it,  and  black  silk  dress  with  red  waist  belt.  The 
background  is  a  stormy,  cloudy  sky.  The  younger  girl,  Barbara 
Evelyn  Isabella,  who  married  General  Alexander  Ross  in  1795,  also 
has  chestnut  hair,  unpowdered  and  hanging  in  ringlets  on  her  neck. 
Her  dress  is  dark  brown,  cut  square  at  the  neck,  with  a  white  frill. 
Her  right  elbow  rests  on  a  parapet,  with  the  hand  under  her  chin, 
and  her  left  arm  hangs  down,  the  hand  not  shown.  In  both  portraits 
the  details  of  the  dress  have  been  very  rapidly  painted.  A  second 
portrait  of  Mrs.  Ross,  in  a  white  dress  and  blue  fur-trimmed  cloak, 
was  lent  to  the  Winter  Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy,  1888,  by 
Major  Ross,  M.P. 

A  portrait  of  Mrs.  Whatman,  eldest  daughter  of  Jacob  Bosan- 
quet,  painted  in  1782,  was  exhibited  at  Messrs.  Agnews'  in  1906.  It 
is  a  bust  portrait,  an  oval  in  a  square,  of  much  the  same  type  and 
quality  as  the  Gower  portraits.  She  is  turned  to  the  left,  looking  at 
the  spectator,  with  a  dress  of  pale  lilac  satin,  and  a  gauze  scarf  with 
gold  fringe  falling  from  the  shoulder.  Her  powdered  hair  is  dressed 
high,  entwined  with  ribbon,  and  curls  at  the  back  of  the  neck.  The 
eyes  are  dark,  and  there  is  a  sweet,  pensive  expression  in  the 
beautiful  face,  the  head  standing  out  finely  against  a  background  of 
dark  sky.  Mention  must  also  be  made  of  the  very  animated  and 
attractive  portrait  of  Lady  Holte,  of  Aston  Hall,  a  head  and  shoulders, 
in  the  Birmingham  Art  Gallery,  for  which  the  lady  sat  in  1783. 
Romney  painted  about  the  same  time  a  fine  group  of  her  daughter, 
Mrs.  Bracebridge,  and  child,  which  still  remains  in  Atherstone  Hall. 

During  these  years  between  his  return  from  Italy  and  his  meeting 
with  Emma  Hart,  he  also  produced  many  of  his  finest  renderings  of 
children,  and  a  number  of  those  beautiful  groups  of  mother  and 
child,  or  children,  which,  in  their  fine  and  intimately  sympathetic 
insight  into  the  depth  and  tenderness  of  maternal  love,  place  them 
on  a  level  with  anything  Sir  Joshua  accomplished  in  this  field.  Such 
pictures  as  those  of  the  Duchess  of  Gordon  and  her  son,  the  Marquis 
of  Huntly,  the  entrancing  Mrs.  Canning  and  her  happy  daughter, 
Mrs.  Morris  and  her  son,  Mrs.  Charles  Hawkins,  and  Mrs.  Stables, 
with  their  children,  and  Mrs.  Carwardine  and  her  baby  boy,  make  an 
306 


PLATE  LX1 


MRS.  RATTRAY 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  THE  HON.  JOHN  MANNERS  YORKE 

Page  337 


PLATE  LX1I 


MISS  MARY  JOHNSON 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  MR.  CHARLES  J.  WERTHEIMEK 

P*t!'  337 


CORNEWALL  AND  CLAVE  RING  GROUPS 


instant  and  powerful  appeal  to  every  one,  through  the  truth  and 
beauty  of  their  vision,  and  the  painter's  keen  appreciation  of  the 
closeness  of  the  tie  binding  mother  and  child  together ;  while  his 
children  in  couples  or  alone,  such  as  the  Clavering,  Cornewall, 
Wallace  and  Boone  children,  are  of  quite  as  high  a  quality,  if  not 
higher,  than  his  later  work  of  this  nature.  The  '  George  and 
Catherine  Cornewall'  group,  belonging  to  the  Rev.  Sir  George 
Cornewall,  Bart.,  is  a  smaller  variant  of  the  great  Stafford  family 
group.  The  little  boy  with  hair  curling  on  his  shoulders,  and 
quaint  long  coat,  is  playing  a  tambourine,  to  which  his  sister,  a  year 
or  two  older,  is  dancing,  with  the  skirt  of  her  dress  gathered  up  and 
tucked  under  the  scarf  round  her  waist,  one  end  of  which  she  holds 
with  both  hands  in  a  circle  over  her  head,  where  it  is  blown  out  by 
the  breeze,  and  by  the  movement  of  the  somewhat  sedate  measure 
she  is  treading.  Her  dark  hair  is  bound  round  with  a  chaplet  of 
flowers  and  her  white  dress,  with  elbow  sleeves,  is  open  at  the  neck. 
They  are  a  sweet  and  winsome  pair,  a  little  dignified  and  stately  in 
the  manner  in  which  they  are  taking  their  pleasures.  The  picture  is 
very  '  decorative  '  in  effect,  but,  at  the  same  time,  is  a  truthful  and 
convincing  study  of  childhood.    (See  Plate  xxxvm.) 

The  group  of  Thomas  John  Clavering  and  his  sister,  Catherine 
Mary,  which  was  lent  by  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Napier-Clavering  to  the 
exhibition  in  the  Birmingham  Art  Gallery  in  1900,  is  treated  in  much 
the  same  decorative  manner.  In  this  picture  the  girl's  pink  sash, 
or  long  scarf,  streams  behind  her  in  the  wind  in  a  graceful  curve. 
The  upper  skirt  of  her  white  dress  is  looped  up  much  in  the  same 
way  as  that  of  Catherine  Cornewall,  and  she  is  looking  down  with 
delight  at  a  puppy  she  holds  to  her  breast.  Her  brother,  who  gazes 
full  face  towards  the  spectator,  has  one  arm  round  his  sister's  waist, 
while  with  the  other  he  holds  aloft  a  leash  to  which  two  spaniels  are 
attached,  one  of  which  is  fawning  against  him.  He  wears  a  pink 
close-fitting  suit  with  white  stockings,  and  his  thick  curling  hair  falls 
over  a  white  collar.  The  two  figures  are  seen  against  a  stormy  sky, 
and  the  colour  scheme  is  a  light  one.  It  is  one  of  Romney's  most 
graceful,  though  rather  artificial,  examples  of  child-portraiture,  and 
was  engraved  in  mezzotint  by  J.  R.  Smith  in  1779.   (See  Plate  xxxix.) 

Another  good  group  is  that  of  Maria  and  Catherine  Thurlow,  the 
natural  daughters  of  the  famous  Lord  Chancellor,  now  in  America,  in 
the  Byers  Collection.  These  two  demure  little  maidens,  with  their 
white  frocks   and  quaint  head-dresses  bedecked  with  flowers  and 

307 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


ribands,  standing  by  the  side  of  a  spinet,  attract  at  once  by  the 
naturalness  of  their  pose,  and  the  innocence  of  their  expression.  The 
colour  is  quiet  and  harmonious,  while  the  technical  quality  of  the  work 
is  sound  and  assured. 

Two  other  very  sweet  and  tender  portraits  of  children  are  those 
of  Master  and  Miss  Wallace,  belonging  to  Mr.  J.  Hope  Wallace, 
half-lengths,  simply  and  broadly  painted,  and  displaying  the  closest 
sympathy  and  refinement.  (See  Plates  xl.  and  xli.)  Another  portrait 
of  this  class  is  the  full-length  of  Lord  Henry  Petty,  in  the  Marquis 
of  Lansdowne's  collection,  which  was  exhibited  in  the  Birmingham 
Art  Gallery  in  1900.  This  little  lad  in  his  quaint  blue-tailed  coat  and 
amber-coloured  trousers  and  fair  hair  falling  on  his  white  collar, 
embodies  all  the  innocent,  unconscious  grace  and  spirituality  of  child- 
hood, and  looks  up  from  the  book  he  has  been  studying  with  gentle 
serenity  and  an  air  of  high  breeding.  This  portrait  formed  originally 
part  of  a  larger  canvas  in  which  the  figure  of  Lady  Lansdowne  was 
to  have  been  included. 

One  of  the  '  romances  '  of  the  auction  room  occured  at  Messrs. 
Christie's  towards  the  end  of  1904,  when,  at  a  sale  of  miscellaneous 
properties,  three  pictures  were  put  up  from  the  collection  of  Mr. 
John  Tomlinson,  of  Whitehaven,  who  had  recently  died  at  the  age  of 
ninety.  For  many  years  he  had  lived  in  a  miner's  cottage  at  a  rental 
of  a  few  shillings  a  week,  and  had  a  passion  for  collecting  pictures, 
though  it  is  said  that  he  never  gave  more  than  a  shilling  or  two  for 
any  of  his  purchases.  Under  these  conditions  it  is  not  surprising 
that  his  collection  consisted  for  the  most  part  part  of  rubbish,  which 
was  not  improved  by  his  habit  of  cleaning  his  purchases  himself. 
Happily  he  had  left  untouched  the  three  works  in  question,  portraits 
of  an  officer  and  his  wife  and  their  two  children,  though  they  were 
so  covered  with  an  accumulation  of  dirt,  as  to  be  almost  obliterated. 
The  full-length  of  the  two  children  turned  out  to  be  a  genuine 
example  of  Romney,  an  unframed  canvas  of  60  ins.  by  47  ins.,  which 
apparently  had  been  rolled  up  for  many  years,  and  at  a  later  period 
provided  with  a  home-made  stretcher  by  its  late  owner.  Anecdotes 
about  the  picture  appeared  in  various  newspapers,  so  that  on  the 
day  of  the  sale  the  room  was  crowded,  and  after  some  spirited 
bidding  it  fell  to  Messrs.  Agnew  and  Sons  for  the  sum  of  6500  guineas. 
After  careful  cleaning  it  emerged  from  its  obscurity  as  a  very  interest- 
ing example  of  Romney's  child-portraiture,  and  was  included  in  the 
firm's  Winter  Exhibition  in  1905,  under  the  title  of  the  '  Vernon 
308 


PORTRAIT  GROUPS  WITH  CHILDREN 


Children.'  It  represents  two  little  children  walking  in  a  landscape. 
The  boy,  who  is  the  younger  of  the  two,  is  wearing  a  red  coat  with 
a  green  collar,  red  breeches,  white  ruff,  and  a  high  dark  green  hat  with 
a  feather,  and  carries  a  toy  gun  over  his  shoulder.  His  sister,  who 
is  a  few  years  older,  is  in  a  white  dress,  blue  sash,  and  red  shoes,  with 
brown  curls  falling  on  her  neck.  She  is  holding  a  doll  in  both 
arms,  and  a  black-and-tan  terrier  jumps  up  against  her.  The  land- 
scape background  shows  a  stretch  of  open  country  with  distant  trees 
on  the  left,  and  on  the  right  a  group  of  big  tree  trunks  with  something 
which  looks  like  a  large  waterfall  behind  the  girl,  but  is  more  probably 
part  of  the  sky  which  has  suffered  in  the  past  when  uncared  for  in 
the  miner's  cottage.  A  writer  in  the  Times  (December  5,  1904)  gives 
the  probable  date  of  the  picture  as  1777  ;  and  parts  of  it,  such  as  the 
painting  of  the  white  dress,  which  is  simple,  solid  and  good,  and  very 
like  the  handling  of  little  John  Fane's  white  frock  in  Lord  Burton's 
picture,  point  to  a  period  shortly  after  Romney's  return  from  Italy. 

In  the  same  exhibition  there  was  exhibited  a  very  similar  group  by 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  that  of  the  Boringdon  children,  portraits  of  the 
Hon.  John  Parker  and  his  sister,  Theresa.  In  this,  too,  the  boy 
wears  a  red  coat  and  the  girl  a  white  dress,  and  a  round  close-fitting 
cap  with  white  and  pink  frills.  They  are  seated  side  by  side  in  a 
landscape,  which  forms  a  background  of  rich  golden  brown.  In 
comparing  the  two  one  is  forced  to  acknowledge  that  the  advantage 
is  with  the  Reynolds,  which  is  more  harmonious  and  mellow  in  colour, 
and  painted  with  greater  animation  and  a  closer  observation,  which 
give  it  a  more  lifelike  and  '  realistic '  effect. 

One  of  Romney's  most  lovely  groups  of  mother  and  child  is 
undoubtedly  the  'Jane,  Duchess  of  Gordon  and  her  son,  the  Marquis 
of  Huntly,'  belonging  to  Mr.  Charles  Wertheimer.    (See  Plate  xlii.) 

The  lady,  seated  with  her  head  resting  on  one  hand,  in  a  very 
graceful  attitude,  while  with  the  other  she  holds  in  her  lap  a  sketch 
her  boy  has  just  made,  is  looking  in  front  of  her  with  that  half- 
wistful  expression  which  Romney  often  gave  to  his  sitters  in  such 
groups — it  is  to  be  seen,  for  instance,  in  the  '  Mother  and  Child  '  of 
the  National  Gallery,  the  '  Mrs.  Carwardine  and  Child,'  and  Lord 
Lathom's  '  Mrs.  George  Wilson  and  Daughter.'  The  boy,  who  stands 
behind  his  mother,  leaning  over  her  in  a  tender,  affectionate  manner, 
with  one  arm  thrown  over  the  back  of  her  chair,  and  the  other  holding 
his  sketching  materials,  is  looking  down  at  his  handiwork.  It  is  a 
pure  and  delightful  idyll  of  maternal  and  filial  love,  and  is  one 

309 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


of  the  sweetest  and  freshest  masterpieces  of  the  painter's  best 
period. 

Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  to  whom  this  picture  belonged,  gives  in  his 
Life  of  Romney,  an  interesting  account  of  how  he  came  to  part  with 
it.  'In  1882,'  he  writes,  'I  was  asked  to  send  to  the  Winter 
Exhibition  in  Burlington  House  a  portrait  of  my  great  grand-aunt, 
Jane,  Duchess  of  Gordon,  with  her  son,  the  Marquis  of  Huntly.  Now 
it  had  happened  that  this  picture  had  always  been  attributed  to 
Reynolds,  and  it  was  insured  in  consequence  for  5000  guineas.  But 
the  hanging  committee  recognised  the  work  of  Romney,  and  it  was 
placed  in  their  catalogue  under  the  name  of  that  painter.  No  sooner 
was  the  picture  hung  than  dealers  opened  negotiations  for  purchase. 
I  had  no  wish  to  part  with  it,  but  at  last,  being  hard  pressed  by  one 

of  the  most  eminent  of  that  fraternity,  I  replied :  "  Well,  Mr.   , 

if  you  were  to  offer  me  five  thousand  guineas,  I  might  think 
about  it." 

' "  Five  thousand  guineas ! "  exclaimed  the  expert,  with  a  com- 
passionate smile  at  my  ignorance ;  "  five  thousand  guineas  !  Why,  my 
dear  sir,  there  never  was  a  picture  of  Romney 's  worth  more  than 
twelve  hundred  and  fifty." 

' "  Very  well,  Mr.   ,"  quoth  I ;  "  then  I  am  quite  content  to 

keep  my  picture." 

'  Seven  years  later,  in  1889,  the  same  picture  was  sent  to  the  Guelph 
Exhibition  at  the  New  Gallery.  These  years  had  been  very  disastrous 
to  British  agriculture,  and  when  the  dealers  re-opened  negotiations  they 
found  me  in  a  far  more  pliable  mood,  and  in  the  end  I  parted  with  my 
picture  for  5500  guineas,  but  not  to  the  same  gentleman  who  had 
been  so  eager  about  it  in  1882.  He  now  came  and  reproached  me  for 
not  letting  him  have  the  refusal  of  it  this  time. 

But  Mr.  ,"  said  I,  "  you  told  me  that  its  utmost  value  was 

twelve  hundred  and  fifty  guineas." 

'  "  That  was  its  full  value  at  the  time,"  he  replied  ;  "  but  the  public 
taste  has  matured  very  fast  since  then."' 

Romney  painted  another  very  beautiful  portrait  of  the  Duchess 
of  Gordon  at  a  later  date,  a  seated  figure  in  white  with  her  hair 
dressed  in  loose  curls,  partly  in  powder,  and  a  fox  terrier  nestling 
on  her  lap  in  a  very  natural  way.  It  belongs  to  Sir  Edmund 
Antrobus,  of  Amesbury  Abbey,  Wilts,  and  is  reproduced  in  Lord 
Ronald  Sutherland-Gower's  book,1  and  in  the  Burlington  Magazine  for 

1  Where  it  is  wrongly  called  Lady  Antrobus. 

310 


THE  CARWARDINE  AND   CANNING  GROUPS 


February  1904.  It  was  at  one  time  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  'Fish' 
Crawford,  and  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Antrobus  family  in 
1822.  This  fascinating  lady,  one  of  the  social  leaders  of  her  day, 
the  friend  of  Pitt,  and  the  rival  of  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire,  was 
largely  instrumental  in  raising  the  regiment  of  the  Gordon  High- 
landers ;  and  there  is  another  good  portrait  of  her  painted  by 
Lawrence,  and  shown  by  Messrs.  Agnew  at  their  Winter  Exhibition 
of  1905,  in  which  she  is  dressed  in  a  military  overcoat  and  black 
busby. 

In  any  account  of  Romney's  paintings  of  this  class  Lord  Hilling- 
don's  lovely  canvas, '  Mrs.  Anne  Carwardine  and  Child,'  must  be  given 
one  of  the  first  places.  Romney  was  always  at  his  best  when  paint- 
ing those  bound  to  him  by  close  ties  of  friendship,  and  the  members 
of  the  Carwardine  family  were  very  dear  to  him.  He  painted  more 
than  one  portrait  of  his  friends  at  Colne  Priory.  The  one  now  in 
question,  one  of  the  first  works  he  accomplished  after  his  return  from 
Italy,  shows  in  a  very  marked  degree  how  beneficial  to  his  art  had 
been  the  course  of  hard  study  among  the  old  masters  which  he  had 
just  undergone. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  Italianate  of  his  works,  inspired  by  certain  of 
the  lovely  models  he  had  studied  so  closely,  but  in  no  way  a  slavish 
copy.  It  is  certainly  one  of  his  finest  and  most  complete  expressions 
of  the  tenderness  of  a  mother's  love  and  of  the  confiding  innocence  of 
childhood.  The  action  of  Mrs.  Carwardine,  as  she  clasps  her  little  one 
to  her  breast,  pressing  her  lips  upon  its  hair,  simple  in  composition  as 
it  is,  and  restrained  in  its  expression  of  deep  feeling,  is  one  of  the 
happiest  with  which  his  brush  was  ever  inspired.  It  is  conceived  in 
the  pure  Italian  taste,  and  painted  in  a  broad  but  careful  style,  with 
good  massing  of  light  and  shade,  and  the  flesh  tints  distinguished  by 
both  delicacy  and  solidity. 

Imbued  with  the  like  feeling,  but  much  more  joyous  in  its  mani- 
festation, is  the  very  lovely  portrait  of  Mrs.  Stratford  Canning  and  her 
little  daughter,  which  was  exhibited  at  Messrs.  Agnew's  in  1901.  The 
artist  has  depicted  them  in  a  landscape,  the  lady  in  a  dark  brown  dress 
with  closely  fitting  sleeves,  and  hair  dressed  high  with  a  white  scarf 
entwined  in  it,  seated  with  arms  clasped  round  the  waist  of  the  child 
in  her  lap,  who  flings  her  small  arms  round  her  mother's  neck.  Both 
look  out  at  the  spectator  with  happy  faces,  the  little  girl  smiling  merrily. 
(See  Plate  xliii.)  A  second  very  original  composition,  and  a  most 
natural  and  happy  one,  is  that  of  Mrs.  (afterwards  Lady)  Russell  and 

311 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


her  child,  of  which  an  excellent  preliminary  study  in  oils  is  reproduced 
by  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland- Gower  in  his  book.  The  mother  is  holding 
her  small  son  on  the  top  of  a  Chippendale  card-table  placed  against 
the  wall,  to  allow  him  to  look  at  himself  in  a  circular  mirror  on  the 
wall  above,  against  the  glass  of  which  he  presses  both  hands,  with  his 
back  to  the  spectator  his  face  only  seen  in  reflection.  Mrs.  Russell, 
who  holds  him  by  his  sash,  with  her  other  hand  resting  on  a  book  on 
the  table,  is  looking  round  as  though  her  attention  were  attracted 
by  the  entrance  of  some  one  into  the  room.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  exaggerate  the  charm  and  freshness  of  this  very  delightful  group. 
(See  Plate  xn.) 

A  third  beautiful  and  still  better  known  group  is  that  of  Mrs. 
Stables  and  her  daughters.  They  are  represented  in  a  landscape,  the 
mother  seated  at  the  base  of  a  pillar,  with  one  knee  raised  and  resting 
against  a  low  stone  table  or  parapet,  which  partly  conceals  the  elder 
girl,  who  holds  a  basket  of  fruit.  The  younger  child  stands  on  the  top 
of  the  stone,  with  little  arms  encircling  her  mother's  neck,  in  the 
prettiest  attitude,  and  in  her  turn  held  closely  and  lovingly.  Mrs. 
Stables'  dress  is  painted  in  Romney's  most  careful  and  '  classical ' 
taste,  and  is  an  excellent  example  of  his  mastery  in  the  arrangement 
of  drapery,  while  the  two  heads  stand  out  with  great  effect  against  a 
background  of  dark  foliage.  Both  this  picture  and  the  '  Mrs.  Carwar- 
dine'  were  well  mezzotinted  by  J.  R.  Smith  in  1781.  Another  picture 
of  mother  and  child,  in  which  the  attitude  is  very  similar  to  the 
Stables  group,  is  that  of  Mrs.  Morton  Pitt  and  her  daughter  Sophia, 
belonging  to  Mr.  Charles  Wertheimer,  though  in  this  the  little  girl 
stands  by  her  mother's  side,  leaning  across  her  lap,  with  her  arms  round 
her  waist. 


312 


XXIV 


ALL  these  pictures  were  painted  before  Romney  met  the  lady  to 
/-\  whose  influence  popular  opinion  has  ascribed  so  much  of  his 
success.  He  had  painted,  too,  a  number  of  notable  portraits 
of  men,  such  as  the  full-lengths  of  Lord  Gower  and  Lord  Chancellor 
Thurlow  at  Stafford  House,  the  Richard  Cumberland  in  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery,  William  Hayley,  Sir  Hyde  Parker,  Sir  James  Harris, 
the  Duke  of  Richmond,  Burke,  and  many  others. 

From  1782  until  the  spring  of  1786,  he  worked  almost  constantly 
under  the  spell  of  the  loveliness  and  magnetic  personality  of  Lady 
Hamilton.  In  her  he  found  both  his  ideal  of  beauty  and  an  incom- 
parable model.  She  was  flattered  by  Romney 's  enthusiastic  admiration, 
and  threw  herself  willingly  enough  into  his  projects  for  a  series  of 
pictures  of  which  she  was  to  be  the  subject.  Her  happy  gift  of  graceful 
attitudinising,  her  sense  of  dramatic  movement  and  the  mobility  of  her 
exquisite  features,  as  described  in  an  earlier  chapter,  combined  to 
make  her  a  model  of  singular  inspiration  to  the  painter.  She  responded 
to  the  least  suggestion  with  wonderful  intuition,  never  growing  tired 
of  occupying  the  sitter's  chair ;  and  always  ready,  and  even  glad,  to 
represent  a  new  character  or  to  pose  in  a  fresh  attitude. 

Under  this  stimulus,  invaluable  to  such  a  nature  as  Romney's,  his 
imagination  grew  still  more  active.  His  colour  became  more  tender 
and  refined,  and  his  rendering  of  line  even  more  graceful,  more 
sensuous  in  its  beauty,  and  his  treatment  less  purely  decorative  and 
sculpturesque.  In  the  very  first  picture  of  her  he  painted,  the 
delightfully  girlish  and  vivacious  one  in  which  she  is  shown  with  a  dog 
under  her  arm,  usually  called  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  Nature,'  one  of  the 
finest  things  he  had  so  far  accomplished,  he  has  already  arrived  at  a 
greater  vitality  and  realism ;  as  in  that  other,  of  even  greater  beauty 
of  expression,  in  which  she  is  represented  in  flowing  robes  which 
flutter  in  the  breeze,  dragging  a  goat  by  the  horns,  while  a  dog  bounds 
along  in  front  of  her,  the  picture  known  as  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  a 
Bacchante,'  though  wood-nymph  would  be  a  better  name  for  her. 

313 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


In  the  latter,  which  was  until  recently  in  the  collection  of  Mr. 
Tankerville  Chamberlayne,  an  admirable  effect  of  graceful  movement 
is  produced  more  successfully  than  Romney  often  obtained.  The 
picture  has  suffered  somewhat  in  the  course  of  time,  but  still  retains 
its  beauty  of  colour  almost  undimmed,  and  it  is  perhaps  the  most 
sympathetic  and  natural  of  all  his  many  studies  of  the  lady.  It  is 
easy  to  see  from  it  how  great  must  have  been  her  fascination  to  one 
who  had  a  passion  for  natural  beauty.    (See  Plate  ix.) 

A  canvas  akin  to  this,  though  more  abandoned  in  movement  and 
less  refined  in  expression,  is  the  three-quarters  length  of  her  as  a 
'  Bacchante  dancing  on  a  Heath,'  which  was  purchased  by  Miss 
Romney  together  with  the  'Mrs.  Billington '  for  725  guineas  in  1875, 
and  realised  600  guineas  at  her  sale  in  1894.  A  second  version  of  this 
subject  was  included  in  Messrs.  Agnew's  1904  Exhibition,  No.  20, 
under  the  title  of  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  Mirth.'  She  wears  a  red  dress, 
with  a  belt  of  brown  twisted  ribbon,  and  holds  a  thin  blue  scarf 
which  is  blown  out  by  the  wind  into  a  curve  over  her  head.  Her 
chestnut  hair,  bound  with  a  blue  fillet,  is  in  wild  disorder,  while  her 
arms  and  bosom  are  bare.  The  position  is  graceful,  but  rather 
affected.  There  is  a  fine  background  of  grey  sky,  with  a  glimpse  of 
bare  hillside  low  down  on  the  horizon. 

He  painted  her  under  various  classical  guises,  such  as  Cassandra, 
Alope,  or  Circe ;  and  in  a  number  of  fanciful  characters,  one  of  the 
most  perfect  of  all  being  the  full-length  of  her  at  the  spinning  wheel.1 

Some  of  these  have  been  described  on  an  earlier  page,  including 
the  '  Circe,'  to  which  Romney  never  put  the  finishing  touches.  This 
fine  full-length,  in  which  the  attitude,  with  left  arm  uplifted,  is  effec- 
tive, remains,  in  spite  of  William  Long's  amateur  additions,  one  of  the 
most  important  and  elaborate  pictures  which  the  painter  attempted  of 
his  divinity.  In  this,  as  in  more  than  one  of  Romney 's  full-lengths, 
the  height  of  the  body  is  a  little  exaggerated,  giving  an  effect  of 
unusual  tallness.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  smaller  of  her 
portraits  is  the  so-called  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  Ariadne,' 2  in  which 
she  is  represented  as  sitting,  almost  in  profile,  in  a  cave  by  the  sea. 
She  is  looking  downward,  lost  in  thoughts,  which  are  serious,  if  not 
unhappy  ones.  A  little  boat  on  the  horizon  suggests  the  cause  of 
her  sadness.  The  expression  of  the  face  is  very  sweet  and  tender,  and 
the  painting  of  the  dress,  with  its  few  large  folds  and  broad  flat  spaces, 
is  excellent.    (See  Plate  xx.) 

1  See  page  IK!.  2  See  page  182. 

314 


PICTURES   OF  LADY  HAMILTON 


One  of  the  most  elaborate  of  these  pictures  is  '  The  Lady  Hamilton 
as  a  Nun,'  in  Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne's  collection,  in  which  she 
is  kneeling  before  the  figure  of  a  saint  in  a  sculptured  niche  in  some 
cloister,  with  hands  crossed  on  her  bare  bosom,  and  eyes  cast  upwards 
in  adoration.  A  thin  scarf  hangs  loosely  over  her  tumbled  hair,  which 
frames  the  fine  oval  of  her  face.  A  basket  of  roses  is  on  the  ground 
at  her  side,  and  other  flowers  are  in  vases  at  the  base  of  the  saintly 
image.  The  costume  is  more  that  of  a  Vestal  Virgin  than  of  a  nun.1 
The  head  in  this  picture  has  much  in  common,  both  as  regards  pose 
and  expression,  with  the  head  in  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  St.  Cecilia,'  in 
which  also,  the  face  is  turned  upwards,  with  the  same  rapt  expression. 
In  this  latter  picture,  which  was  lent  by  Lord  Masham  to  the  Guild- 
hall Exhibition  in  1899,  her  hair  falls  in  long  ringlets  over  each 
shoulder  down  to  the  waist.  She  is  seated  by  the  side  of  an  organ, 
against  which  a  large  mandolin  rests,  with  an  open  book  on  her  lap, 
upon  which  her  hands  rest  in  the  attitude  of  prayer.  Rays  of  light 
fall  from  above  upon  the  upturned  face.  Two  other  canvases  based 
upon  the  '  St.  Cecilia '  have  been  described  in  an  earlier  chapter.2  The 
more  important  one,  belonging  to  Lord  Iveagh,  is  very  carefully  and 
elaborately  painted,  and  the  face,  as  is  natural  with  such  a  model, 
is  a  beautiful  one,  but  as  a  study  of  expression  it  is  less  successful,  and 
leaves  the  spectator  cold  and  unconvinced.  The  second  study  is  an 
almost  exact  counterpart,  but  more  simply  and  freely  handled,  and 
displays  a  sincerer  feeling. 

The  story  of  the  painting  of  the  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  Sensibility  5 
has  been  already  told.3  The  head  in  this  picture  is  one  of  his 
most  expressive  renderings  of  his  4  divine  lady,'  and  upon  the  small 
canvas  on  which  it  was  originally  painted  it  made  a  perfect  picture 
of  its  kind.  It  is  doubtful  whether  Hayley,  who  suggested  the 
title,  and  persuaded  Romney  to  enlarge  the  canvas,  so  as  to  intro- 
duce the  whole  figure  and  the  sensitive  plant,  improved  matters  by 
his  flatteries  and  interference.  The  figure  is  not  one  of  the  painter's 
best  efforts.  When  this  picture  was  exhibited  in  the  Winter 
Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  1894,  the  art  critic  of  the 
Athenaeum  drew  attention  to  the  bad  drawing  of  the  right  arm  as 
being  quite  unworthy  of  so  good  a  draughtsman,  and  considered  that 
it  failed,  too,  in  its  affected  attitude  and  the  assumption  of  senti- 
mentality in  the  expression,  and  that  the  red  dress  and  blue  shawl  were 
less  harmonious  than  usual  with  Romney,  who  seldom  made  a  mistake 

1  See  Plate  xliv.  .2  See  page  116.  3  See  page  115. 

315 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


in  such  a  matter,  and  was  an  excellent  colourist  within  the  range  of  a 
very  limited  palette.  He  admitted,  however,  that  the  picture  looked 
dirty  at  the  time.  Such  faults  as  it  possesses  were,  no  doubt,  largely 
due  to  the  alterations  carried  out  at  Hayley's  suggestion,  who  wished 
it  to  appear  as  though  inspired  by  his  own  verses. 

There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  when  Romney  was  content  to 
paint  Emma  in  more  modern  and  more  simple  guise,  as  in  the  splendid 
picture  of  the  '  Spinstress,'  now  in  Lord  Iveagh's  collection,  instead  of 
in  masquerade  as  some  classical  nymph  or  heroine  of  romance,  he  was 
more  successful.  The  former  works  have  a  naturalness  which  cannot  fail 
to  charm,  while  the  latter,  more  or  less  perfect  in  ideal  beauty,  seem 
less  sincere,  and  while  pleasing  the  eye,  leave  the  heart  untouched.  In 
'  The  Spinstress  '  the  attitude,  which  Robinson 1  said  was  adopted  from 
a  sketch  taken  from  life  of  a  cobbler's  wife  at  work  in  her  husband's 
stall,  is  a  natural  and  very  happy  one.  She  is  seated  in  a  chair  in  the 
open  air,  by  a  cottage  doorway,  the  body  in  profile,  and  the  head 
turned  over  the  right  shoulder  to  face  the  spectator.  Her  hands  are 
occupied  with  her  wheel  and  flax.  The  plain  dress  shows  to  advan- 
tage the  curves  of  her  beautiful  figure,  and  her  hair  is  covered  with  the 
long  white  scarf  in  which  he  painted  her  a  number  of  times.  In  this 
instance  it  is  crossed  under  her  chin,  with  the  long  ends  falling  down 
her  back  as  far  as  the  ground.  A  hen  and  some  chickens  are  busy  near 
her  feet.  This  picture,  which  was  engraved  in  stipple  by  Thomas 
Cheesman  in  1789,  is  one  of  the  most  lovely  renderings  of  Emma 
which  his  sympathetic  brush  ever  set  upon  canvas,  and  it  is  small 
wonder  that  Charles  Greville  was  loth  to  part  with  it  to  Mr.  Christian 
Curwen.  There  is  a  slight  but  admirable  preliminary  study  for  it  in  the 
Fitzwilliam  Museum,  Cambridge,  which  is  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald 
Sutherland  Gower's  book.  Mr.  Walter  Sichel  gives,  in  his  recently 
published  volume,  Emma,  Lady  Hamilton,  a  sepia  study  by  Romney 
of  exceptional  interest,  showing  the  interior  of  his  studio,  with  a  group 
of  four  figures.  The  one  on  the  left,  just  entering  the  room,  with  a 
smile  on  his  face,  is  Greville.  Two  other  men  are  seated  at  a  table  in 
the  centre,  and  on  the  extreme  right  Emma  is  shown  at  the  spinning- 
wheel.  Her  attitude,  which  is  a  very  graceful  one,  differs  slightly 
from  the  pose  in  the  finished  picture.  The  body  is  turned  more  round 
to  the  front,  with  the  head  leaning  towards  the  right  shoulder,  as  she 
speaks  or  listens  to  the  man  who  is  seated  nearest  to  her.  Possibly 
this  last  may  be  Hayley,  though  little  likeness  to  him  can  be  discerned, 

1  See  page  267. 

316 


STUDIES   OF  LADY  HAMILTON 


but  he  holds  a  book  in  his  hands,  and  his  habit  of  reading  aloud,  more 
particularly  from  his  own  poems,  when  Romney  was  working,  was  an 
inveterate  one. 

Dozens  of  studies  of  the  Enchantress  in  various  attitudes,  and  many 
beginnings  of  pictures,  which  his  easily  excited  imagination  had  con- 
ceived under  her  immediate  spell,  remained  unfinished,  and  encum- 
bered his  studio  until  his  death.  His  temperament  was  such  that  his 
artistic  impulses  were  just  as  quickly  chilled  by  absence  or  fancied 
neglect,  as  fired  by  the  presence  of  his  'divine  lady.'  Some  of  these, 
no  doubt,  were  done  after  she  had  left  England  in  1786,  and  were 
studies  from  memory,  pale  recollections  of  a  beauty  which  had  be- 
witched him  so  long  as  he  was  privileged  to  gaze  upon  it,  a  loveliness 
which  still  intruded  itself  years  afterwards,  when  he  was  planning  those 
innumerable  pictures  of  imagination  and  fancy  upon  which  he  never 
once  ceased  to  hope  that  he  might  build  for  himself  a  lasting  reputation. 

It  would  serve  no  useful  purpose  to  attempt  any  complete  list  of 
these  almost  innumerable  studies,  as  this  has  been  done  so  admirably  in 
Messrs.  Ward  and  Roberts'  book ;  but  several  of  the  best  of  them  are 
reproduced  in  this  volume.  The  one  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery, 
purchased  by  the  Trustees  in  1870,  in  which  she  is  shown  with  elbows 
leaning  on  a  table,  and  hands  resting  under  her  chin,  is  well  known. 
The  body  is  in  profile,  and  the  head  turned  over  the  left  shoulder,  so 
that  the  face  is  towards  the  spectator.  The  long  white  scarf  is  draped 
turban  wise  over  the  forehead,  with  the  ends  hanging  down  her  back. 
It  is  an  unfinished  study,  but  the  face  is  one  of  his  most  refined  and 
expressive  likenesses  of  her.  Its  chief  defect  is  in  the  peculiar  pose  of 
the  head,  whereby  no  part  of  the  neck  is  seen,  so  that  the  former  seems 
to  be  detached  from  the  body  and  only  to  be  held  in  place  by  the 
hands.  It  was  a  favourite  attitude  of  hers  when  Romney  was  painting 
her,  and  is  to  be  seen  in  an  even  more  pronounced  degree  in  the  hasty 
but  vivid  '  Study  of  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Bacchante '  in  the  National 
Gallery,  No.  312,  in  which  the  head,  with  its  happy,  smiling  face,  is 
thrown  back  until  the  cheek  rests  upon  the  shoulder,  completely  hiding 
the  neck. 

A  second  unfinished  study  of  her  in  the  National  Gallery,  No.  1668, 
called  '  Sketch  Portrait  of  Lady  Hamilton,'  a  small  circular  canvas, 
was  bequeathed  in  1898  by  General  J.  Julius  Johnstone.  It  is  a  study 
for  the  head  of  the  '  Cassandra '  picture,  another  version  of  which  was 
in  the  possession  of  Hayley,  and  was  engraved  in  stipple  by  Caroline 
Watson  for  his  book,  the  picture  itself  being  now  in  the  collection  of 

317 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Mr.  E.  L.  Raphael.  The  National  Gallery  study  is  wrongly  described 
in  the  catalogue :  '  The  head,  nearly  full-face,  is  shown  turned  slightly 
back  over  the  right  shoulder.  The  lips  are  parted,  the  eyes  raised,  and 
the  rich  brown  hair  is  spread  in  disorder  against  a  white  pillow  behind.' 
The  latter  statement  is  incorrect.  There  is  no  white  pillow  behind  her 
head ;  it  is  merely  the  unpainted  left  hand  with  which,  in  the  finished 
picture,  she  is  crowning  herself  with  a  wreath,  while  the  right  arm, 
uplifted,  holds  an  axe.  The  artist  has  left  the  canvas  bare,  but  the 
shape  of  the  fingers  can  be  easily  distinguished. 

Another  version  of  the  picture  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery, 
in  which  attitude  and  dress  are  much  the  same,  was  lent  by  Mrs. 
Harvey,  of  Ickwell  Bury,  to  the  Guelph  Exhibition,  1891,  No.  241. 
A  note  in  the  catalogue  stated  that  it  was  '  the  first  portrait  done  by 
Romney  of  Lady  Hamilton.  He  was  on  a  visit  to  Ickwell  Bury  to 
paint  the  then  Mrs.  Harvey's  portrait,  saw  the  beautiful  girl,  who  was 
a  servant  in  the  house,  and  was  so  struck  with  her,  that  he  at  once 
asked  for  permission  to  make  this  likeness.'  This  statement,  which 
has  been  repeated  more  than  once,  for  the  picture  has  been  exhibited 
several  times,  is  a  pure  legend,  with  no  foundation  in  fact.  Emma 
Hart  was  never  in  service  at  Ickwell  Bury,  and  Romney  saw  her  for 
the  first  time  when  Greville  brought  her  to  his  studio  in  1782  ;  nor  did 
he  visit  Ickwell  Bury  to  paint  Mrs.  Harvey's  portrait,  for  all  his  work 
was  done  in  his  own  studio,  except  in  the  case  of  a  few  intimate  friends, 
and  then  only  at  Eartham,  and,  possibly,  Colne  Priory. 

Three  other  rapid  studies  of  her  are  illustrated  here,  all  of  them 
fine  examples  of  the  freedom  and  power  of  Romney 's  brush  when  the 
true  inspiration  was  upon  him.  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  which  of 
them  is  the  more  beautiful.  Mr.  F.  C.  Arkwright's  picture,  is,  perhaps, 
the  best  likeness,  and  is  a  singularly  fresh  and  animated  impression  of 
the  lady's  lovely  features.  The  waves  of  dark  hair,  dashed  in  with  the 
greatest  haste  and  freedom,  serve  as  an  admirable  foil  to  the  roses  of 
her  cheeks.  Mr.  G.  Harland  Peck's  '  Euphrosyne '  is  one  of  his  boldest 
and  most  daring  improvisations.  It  is  the  most  animated  of  all 
Romney 's  studies  of  her,  the  most  frankly  sensuous.  Painted  probably 
in  less  than  a  couple  of  hours,  it  is  alive  with  laughter  and  the  joy  of 
living,  a  brilliant  piece  of  hasty  manipulation,  which  no  one  but  an 
artist  captivated  by  his  subject  could  produce.  The  sketch  with  the 
misleading  title  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Child,'  belonging  to  Mr. 
Tankerville  Chamberlayne,  is  another  brilliant  study  of  the  face  that 
haunted  him.  In  this  the  keynote  is  innocence,  and  the  upturned  face 
318 


'BEAUTY  AND   THE  ARTS' 


with  its  parted  lips,  and  expression  of  adoration,  is  in  striking  contrast 
to  the  frank  joyousness  of  Mr.  Harland  Peck's  picture.  The  lady's 
extreme  mobility  of  features,  combined  with  the  painter's  power,  in  the 
case,  at  least,  of  this  one  sitter,  of  seizing  the  most  fleeting  expressions 
of  the  human  countenance,  permitted  an  infinite  variety  of  effect 
within  the  limits  of  a  single  theme. 

This  stimulus,  however,  did  not  exhaust  itself  in  pictures  of  the  fair 
Emma  alone.  His  studio  continued  to  be  the  rendezvous  of  many  of 
the  leading  members  of  the  fashionable  world,  who  were  eager  to  be 
painted  by  so  popular  an  artist,  who  made  the  utmost  of  his  sitters' 
charms.  Between  1782  and  1786  he  painted  such  fine  portraits 
as  those  of  Lady  Beauchamp-Proctor,  Lady  Arabella  Ward,  in  pale 
blue  velvet,  Miss  Sarah  Rodbard,  with  her  skye-terrier  perched  on  the 
top  of  a  classical  pillar,  Lady  Rouse-Boughton,  and  Lady  Milner. 

The  famous  picture,  now  known  as  '  Beauty  and  the  Arts,'  in 
Mr.  C.  J.  Wertheimer's  collection,  containing  portraits  of  the  Ladies 
Caroline  and  Elizabeth  Spencer,  daughters  of  the  fourth  Duke  of 
Marlborough,  was  begun  in  1786 ;  and  other  sitters  of  this  period,  to 
mention  only  a  few,  whose  portraits  can  be  placed  among  his  finest 
achievements,  were  Miss  Sophia  Lawrence,  and  her  brother  William, 
Lady  Mary  Sullivan,  the  Earl  of  Westmorland,  Earl  Grey,  Miss  Anne 
Kershaw,  Mrs.  Robinson  (' Perdita ')  (see  Plate  xlix.),  Mrs.  Raikes 
(see  Plate  xiii.),  Mrs.  Jordan  as  the  'Country  Girl,'  and  Elizabeth, 
Lady  Forbes  (see  Plate  xlviii.). 

'  Beauty  and  the  Arts '  is  one  of  Romney's  most  ambitious  portrait 
groups,  and  in  it  his  delight  in  the  physical  loveliness  of  his  sitters  has 
found  very  complete  expression.  There  is  some  little  awkwardness  in 
the  pose  of  Lady  Caroline  Spencer,  on  the  right,  dressed  in  white,  who 
is  playing  the  harp,  but  in  all  other  respects  the  picture  must  be 
regarded  as  one  of  his  most  masterly  efforts.1  The  portraits  of  Miss 
Lawrence  and  her  brother,  which  were  lent  to  the  Birmingham 
Exhibition  in  1903  by  Mr.  Lockett  Agnew,  are  two  three-quarter 
lengths  of  superb  quality.  The  one  of  William  Lawrence  was  painted 
in  1785,  when  he  was  twenty-one,  in  which  year  he  died.  He  is  dressed 
in  a  fawn-coloured  coat  and  a  waistcoat  of  pink  and  black  stripes,  and 
the  gold-embroidered  gown  of  an  Oxford  Commoner.  It  is  a  work  of 
rare  attractiveness,  having  unusual  beauty  of  tone  and  great  mellowness 
of  colour,  so  that  at  the  first  glance  it  might  almost  be  taken  for  a  fine 

1  Lady  Caroline  married,  in  1792,  Henry,  second  Viscount  Clifden.  Her  younger  sister, 
Elizabeth,  who  married  John  Spencer,  is  in  red,  with  a  blue  sash.    (See  Plate  xiv.) 

319 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


example  from  the  brush  of  Reynolds.  As  a  portrait  of  a  handsome 
youth,  of  manly,  unaffected  bearing,  it  has  a  winning  charm  which  it 
is  impossible  to  resist.  Exceptional  care  has  been  bestowed  upon  the 
technique,  which,  nevertheless,  loses  nothing  of  the  broadness  and 
freedom  which  marked  Romney's  handling  at  its  best.  Much  the 
same  qualities  characterise  the  companion-picture  of  the  sister,  which 
was  painted  a  year  later.  It  has  dignity  and  repose,  and  the  treatment 
of  the  black  dress,  which,  no  doubt,  she  was  wearing  in  memory  of  her 
brother,  is  one  of  his  happiest  effects  both  in  design  and  in  the  skilful 
management  of  a  single  tint.  Both  these  portraits  bear  signs  in  every 
touch  that  the  painting  of  them  was  a  labour  of  love  to  the  artist. 

In  the  portrait  of  Lady  Mary  Sullivan,  now  in  Canada,  in 
the  Ross  Collection,  Romney  is  seen  at  his  best  in  the  beautiful 
painting  of  the  white  draperies.  The  pose  of  the  lady  is  almost 
identical  with  that  of  Miss  Sophia  Lawrence,  as  are  also  the  poise  of 
the  head,  the  arrangement  of  the  hair  and  dress,  and  the  position  of 
the  long,  elegant  hands. 

Another  good  half-length  portrait  of  the  year  1784,1  is  that  of 
Mrs.  Methuen,  elder  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Gooch,  of  Benacre, 
Suffolk,  who  married  Paul  Cobb  Methuen  in  1776.  She  is  wearing 
a  plain  white  dress  with  close-fitting  sleeves,  cut  low,  and  folded  across 
the  breast,  with  a  pink  sash  and  a  large  black  broad-brimmed  hat 
tilted  on  the  left  side  of  a  mass  of  curled  hair,  in  half-powder,  with 
ringlets  falling  on  her  shoulder.  She  rests  upon  her  left  arm,  and  her 
hands  are  joined  in  front  of  her.  £3570  was  given  for  this  picture  at 
Christie's  on  May  7th,  1905.  She  was  also  painted  by  Gainsborough 
and  Reynolds,  the  former  portrait  being  now  in  America,  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Mr.  P.  A.  B.  Widener,  of  Philadelphia.  Her  husband's  portrait 
by  Romney  was  sold  at  the  same  time,  but  only  realised  £420.  Both 
were  from  the  collection  of  the  Rev.  T.  P.  Methuen,  of  Bath. 

Another  example  of  his  art  at  its  finest  is  the  portrait  of  the 
lovely,  ill-fated  '  Perdita  '  Robinson,  which  now  hangs  in  the  Wallace 
Collection  by  the  side  of  the  wonderful  full-length  of  the  same  lady  by 
Gainsborough,  and  Sir  Joshuas  less  idealised  version  of  her.  Romney 
has  represented  her  in  walking  dress,  with  a  large  white  cap  tied  under 
her  chin,  and  her  hands  buried  in  a  white  fur  muff.  A  black  lace- 
edged  shawl  almost  covers  her  dress  of  brown  silk,  which  is  filled  in 
with  thin  muslin  at  the  neck  and  bosom,  only  half  veiling  the  flesh 
beneath  it.    The  hair  is  lightly  powdered  and  not  too  elaborately 

1  According  to  the  Times,  May  8th,  1905. 

320 


PORTRAIT  OF  MRS.   LEE  ACTON 


curled,  and  the  complexion  is  fresh  and  charming.  This  picture  was 
bought  in  for  19  guineas  by  William  Saunders,  Romney's  frame- 
maker,  at  the  Romney  sale  of  1807  ;  an  unfinished  '  Portrait  of  Perdita 
(Mrs.  Robinson) '  being  sold  at  the  same  time  for  sixteen  shillings. 

All  Romney's  old  enthusiasm  returned  when  his  enchantress  came 
back  again  to  England  for  a  few  months  in  1791.  Though  she  was 
now  received  by  society  with  open  arms  and  had  not  the  time  to  sit 
to  him  as  frequently  as  of  old,  yet  she  gave  him  more  than  one 
opportunity  of  painting  her.  It  may,  perhaps,  have  been  to  some 
extent  owing  to  this  renewed  inspiration,  together  with  the  loveliness 
of  his  subject,  that  he  produced  this  year  the  very  finest  full-length 
portrait  he  ever  accomplished — that  of  Mrs.  Lee  Acton,  second  wife  of 
Nathaniel  Lee  Acton.  This  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  pictures  of  fair 
English  womanhood  that  the  art  of  the  eighteenth  century  has  given 
us,  and  is  filled  with  that  nameless  sweetness,  grace,  and  elegance  which 
characterise  Romney's  art  at  its  best ;  a  picture  which  stamps  the 
painter  as  a  master,  who,  on  occasion,  could  rise  to  heights  as  great 
as  those  attained  by  Reynolds  or  Gainsborough. 

This  portrait,  which  belongs  to  Lord  de  Saumarez,  was  lent  to  the 
Romney  Exhibition  in  1900,  and  to  the  Royal  Academy  in  1879  and 
again  in  1907.  The  lady,  who  was  Penelope,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Sir 
Richard  N.  Rycroft,  Bart.,  married  Nathaniel  Lee  Acton  in  1791,  the 
portrait  being  painted  in  the  same  year.  She  is  represented  standing 
in  a  landscape,  dressed  entirely  in  white,  the  only  touch  of  colour  being 
a  pale  purple-grey  silk  sash,  and  wearing  a  large  hat  with  great 
bunches  of  white  ribbon,  tied  under  her  chin  in  very  becoming  fashion. 
Her  hair  is  elaborately  curled  and  partly  in  powder,  and  her  head 
turned  over  her  left  shoulder  with  a  wistful,  far-away  look  in  the  eyes, 
and  her  beautiful  hands  lightly  clasped  together.  The  dress  with  its 
plain,  close-fitting  sleeves,  is  arranged  in  straight  and  severe  folds.  The 
background  is  an  ambitious  one,  but  is  the  least  successful  part  of  the 
picture,  though,  with  the  russet -brown  tones  of  its  rather  formless 
foliage,  and  the  blue-grey  of  the  distant  storm-clouds,  it  forms  an 
effective  setting  to  the  figure.  It  was  engraved  by  Mr.  H.  Scott 
Bridgwater  in  1901.    (See  Plate  li.) 

It  is  not,  however,  in  any  way  intended  to  suggest  that  Romney's 
art  needed  the  presence  of  a  model  like  Lady  Hamilton  before  it  could 
reach  its  complete  expression.  From  1786  to  1791  he  painted  almost 
as  many  fine  things  as  between  1782  and  1786.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
give  a  list  of  them  here  ;  more  than  one  of  them  will  be  found  among 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


the  accompanying  reproductions  ;  but  mention  may  be  made  of  Lady 
Warwick  and  her  two  children,  Mrs.  Mark  Currie,  and  the  expressive 
and  noble  full-length  of  Lady  Newdigate.  His  brush,  too,  had  gained 
still  greater  freedom  as  his  art  grew  more  assured,  as  may  be  seen  in 
the  bolder,  more  brilliant,  and  hastier  handling  of  such  well-known 
studies  of  woman's  loveliness  as  Lady  Sligo,  Mrs.  Clayton  Glyn,  Mrs. 
Tickell,  Mrs.  Crouch,  and  Lady  Lemon.    (See  Plate  lii.) 

A  very  beautiful  portrait,  a  small  canvas  29  in.  by  24  in.,  was  sold 
at  Messrs.  Christie's  on  May  7th,  1905.  It  was  the  most  important 
example  in  the  collection  of  works  by  old  masters  formed  by  the  late 
Mr.  Edward  Cheney,  of  Badger  Hall,  Shropshire,  and  inherited  by 
Mr.  Francis  Capel-Cure.  The  catalogue,  in  which  it  was  illustrated, 
described  it  as  a  portrait  of  '  H.R.H.  Princess  Amelia,  daughter  of 
George  in.,'  given  by  H.R.H.  Prince  Frederick,  Duke  of  York,  to  his 
aide-de-camp,  General  Cheney.  It  was  pointed  out  in  The  Times,1 
however,  that  it  could  not  possibly  be  a  portrait  of  the  Princess,  who 
was  born  in  1783,  and  would  be  still  a  girl  at  the  time  when  Romney 
ceased  from  painting  portraits.  He  did  not  paint  any  member  of 
George  m.'s  family,  and  the  only  royal  personages  who  sat  to  him  were 
Prince  William  Frederick  of  Gloucester,  now  at  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge,  and  his  daughter  Sophia  Matilda,  which  was  in  the  Duke 
of  Cambridge's  sale  in  1904.  The  portrait  fell  to  Messrs.  Colnaghi  and 
Co.  for  £2940.  The  lady,  whoever  she  may  have  been,  is  handsome, 
and  is  shown  to  the  waist,  full  face,  in  a  white  dress  with  a  black  cloak 
thrown  loosely  over  her  shoulders,  and  wearing  a  large  high-crowned 
white  bonnet,  with  blue  ribands,  tied  under  the  chin  with  a  white  veil, 
very  much  in  the  style  of  the  head-dress  in  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Lee 
Acton,  and  possibly  painted  about  the  same  time,  for  the  handling  is 
free  and  loose. 

A  well-known  example  of  Romney 's  power  of  depicting  womanly 
beauty,  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Bryan  Cooke,  was  lent  to  the  Royal 
Academy  Winter  Exhibition  in  1896  by  Mr.  Philip  Davies  Cooke. 
The  lady  represented  was  Frances,  daughter  of  Philip  Puleston,  who 
married  Bryan  Cooke,  of  Owston,  and  M.P.  for  Malton.  It  is  a 
three-quarter-length  figure,  seated,  looking  at  the  spectator,  with 
hands  clasped  on  her  lap,  her  right  arm  resting  on  a  balustrade, 
and  dressed  in  white,  with  blue  sash,  and  a  large  black  hat  with  white 
feathers. 

Another  excellent  example,  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Van  der  Gucht,  a 

1  May  8th,  1905. 

322 


PORTRAITS   OF  CHILDREN 


half-length,  seated,  with  left  elbow  on  the  arm  of  her  chair,  in  a  light- 
coloured  riding  dress,  a  large  black  hat,  and  a  whip  in  her  hands,  seen 
against  a  deep  blue  sky,  was  lent  by  Mr.  Brodie  A.  Willcox  to  the 
Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibition  in  1894.  It  is  very  solidly,  care- 
fully, and  broadly  painted,  with  an  unusually  warm  and  golden  tone, 
and  well  drawn  and  modelled.  It  is  one  of  his  most  delightful  appreci- 
ations of  the  charms  of  fair  and  buxom  womanhood,  with  rosy  cheeks, 
light  eyes,  and  fresh  complexion. 

Turning  again  to  his  portraits  of  children,  it  will  be  found  that  in 
the  years  throughout  which  Emma  Hart  sat  so  constantly  to  him,  and 
during  those  which  followed,  Romney  painted  many  a  canvas  which  has 
all  the  charm  and  simplicity  which  marked  his  renderings  of  them  when 
he  was  fresh  from  the  picture-galleries  of  Italy. 

One  of  his  most  delightful  portraits  of  this  class — indeed,  one  of  the 
most  charming  pictures  he  ever  painted — is  that  of  little  Miss  Charlotte 
Peirse,  which  attracted  keen  competition  when  it  came  into  the  market 
in  1900,  fetching  no  less  than  7000  guineas.  This  little  lady  was  born 
in  1780,  and  was  married  in  1797  to  Inigo  Freeman  Thomas  of  Ratton, 
Sussex,  and  died  at  Lisbon  three  years  later  at  the  age  of  twenty.  She 
is  represented  at  full-length,  walking  in  a  landscape,  in  a  white  muslin 
dress  with  a  blue  sash,  and  a  large  straw  bonnet,  the  strings  of  which 
she  holds  in  her  hands.  She  was  some  relation,  perhaps  a  daughter,  of 
the  Mr.  Peirse  who  came  to  the  artist's  rescue  when  he  was  stranded  in 
Paris,  in  1775,  without  means  of  getting  home. 

A  large  canvas  representing  a  boy  of  ten  or  twelve,  '  Master  John 
Bensley  Thornhill,'  was  lent  to  the  Winter  Exhibition  of  the  Royal 
Academy  in  1906,  No.  76,  by  Major-General  C.  Powlett  Lane.  The 
lad  stands  at  full-length  in  a  wooded  landscape,  leaning  with  his  right 
elbow  against  a  rock  and  his  head  resting  against  his  bent  hand,  the 
left  arm  hanging  by  his  side,  and  his  legs  crossed.  His  light  brown 
hair  curls  upon  his  neck,  and  he  is  dressed  in  a  brown  coat  and 
breeches,  a  white  waistcoat  and  stockings,  and  large  frilled  collar. 
This  is  one  of  Romney 's  '  pretty '  boys,  with  a  sweet  and  pensive 
expression  of  face,  though  not  so  fine  a  character  study  as  the  '  Lord 
Henry  Petty ' ;  but  the  canvas  has  much  darkened,  and  it  would  gain 
in  quality  if  carefully  cleaned.  The  background,  with  its  large  tree- 
trunks  and  usual  glimpse  of  distant  landscape,  and  stormy  sky  low 
down  on  the  left,  and  its  lumpy  rocks  and  few  carelessly  drawn  plants 
in  the  foreground,  is  empty  and  perfunctory. 

Another  very  attractive  portrait  of  a  child  is  the  unnamed  '  Boy  in 

323 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


a  Brown  Dress,'  which  is  well  known,  as  it  has  been  exhibited  fre- 
quently. It  is  a  full-length  of  a  little  yellow-haired  lad,  walking  on 
the  sea-shore,  looking  at  the  spectator,  and  dressed  in  a  plain  brown 
suit  with  a  broad  frilled  collar.  He  carries  a  wide-brimmed  drab  felt  hat 
in  his  left  hand,  while  his  right  thumb  and  middle  finger  are  passed 
through  a  button-hole  of  his  vest.  It  is  owned  by  Mr.  G.  E.  B. 
Eyre. 

Two  good  groups  of  children  were  included  in  the  Winter  Exhibi- 
tion of  the  Royal  Academy  in  1893.  The  first  represented  Mary 
and  Louisa  Kent,  daughters  of  Sir  Charles  Kent,  Bart.,  three-quarter- 
length  figures,  in  white  frocks,  seated  under  a  tree,  one  holding  a  crook 
and  caressing  the  head  of  a  lamb.  The  elder  girl  married,  in  1811, 
John  Hayford  Thorold,  afterwards  Sir  John  Thorold,  Bart,  by  whose 
descendant  the  picture  was  lent.  It  is  a  very  harmonious  group  in 
unusually  warm  and  golden  tones.  The  second  was  '  Lady  Prescott 
and  her  three  Children,'  lent  by  Mr.  E.  L.  Raphael,  the  three-quarter- 
length  figure  of  a  lady  in  a  grey  dress  and  large  black  hat,  seated  to 
the  left  under  a  tree  looking  towards  the  spectator,  with  the  youngest 
child  in  her  lap,  while  the  two  others  stand  in  front  of  her  holding 
cherries. 

A  third  good  group  is  that  of  the  daughters  of  Charles  Boone, 
M.P.  for  Castle  Rising,  at  one  time  Governor  of  South  Carolina.  The 
elder  sister,  afterwards  Lady  Drummond,  in  a  red  dress  with  blue 
ribbons,  is  reclining  under  some  trees,  while  her  younger  sister,  dressed 
in  white  with  a  blue  sash,  stands  behind  her.  Both  of  them  are 
holding  a  branch  of  the  tree  above  them.  This  picture  was  lent 
to  the  Winter  Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  1904  by 
Mr.  T.  C.  Garth.  Sir  Joshua  painted  Lady  Drummond  and  her 
mother  in  1774. 

In  conclusion,  attention  must  be  drawn  to  one  of  the  most  sym- 
pathetic groups  he  painted  towards  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  that 
of  the  '  Horsley  Children,'  which  was  exhibited  at  the  Grafton  Gallery 
in  1900  by  Mr.  F.  B.  Macdonald,  to  whom  it  had  been  bequeathed 
by  George  Horsley,  one  of  the  children  represented  in  it.  It  after- 
wards passed  into  the  possession  of  Lady  Gordon  Cumming,  of  Altyre, 
Forres,  N.B.  They  were  the  children  of  Mr.  George  Horsley,  Com- 
missary of  the  Bombay  Army,  of  Epsom,  and  his  wife,  Charlotte, 
daughter  of  Sir  George  Talbot,  Bart.  The  little  girl,  Charlotte,  is 
shown  standing  on  the  steps  of  a  terrace,  looking  round  at  the 
spectator,  holding  a  cornflower  in  her  left  hand,  and  with  the  other 
324 


THE  '  HORSLEY  CHILDREN 


about  to  give  a  bunch  of  them  to  her  small  brother,  who  stands  below 
with  his  frock  held  up  to  catch  them.  Both  are  dressed  in  white  with 
blue  sashes,  and  straight  smooth  hair  falling  on  their  foreheads.  It  is 
a  good  example  of  llomney's  painting  of  rather  flat  white  draperies, 
with  few  folds,  but  well  modelled.  According  to  a  writer  in  The 
Times1  it  was  painted  in  the  autumn  of  1793.  It  was  sold  at  Messrs. 
Christie's  in  May,  1905,  and  purchased  by  Messrs.  Thomas  Agnew  and 
Sons  for  £4620. 

The  mother's  portrait  by  Romney  (30  x  24),  in  a  grey  dress,  black 
lace  cloak,  and  small  straw  bonnet  tied  under  the  chin,  was  lent  to 
the  Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibition,  1887  (No.  18),  by  Mr.  Edward 
H.  Palmer. 

1  May  8th,  1905. 


325 


XXV 


IN  his  full-length  portraits  of  noble  lords  in  their  robes  and  orders, 
such  as  Earl  Gower,  Sir  Robert  Gunning,  or  Lord-Chancellor 
Thurlow,  and  of  ladies  of  high  degree,  such  as  the  Margravine  of 
Anspach, '  state  portraits '  in  which  the  sumptuousness  of  the  dress  was 
of  as  much  importance  to  the  sitter  as  a  good  likeness,  Romney  was  not 
always  so  successful  as  in  his  smaller  and  more  '  intimate '  canvases, 
in  which  he  was  mainly  occupied  with  the  grace  and  beauty  of  his 
sitter,  while  questions  of  costume  were  reduced  to  a  simple  gown  or 
coat  such  as  he  always  painted  so  dexterously.  In  the  larger  canvases, 
with  his  habit  of  generalisation,  there  is  often  a  lack  of  interest  in 
such  details,  a  flatness  and  emptiness  which  assert  themselves  much 
more  strongly  than  in  his  less  ambitious  pictures.  There  are  excep- 
tions to  this,  of  course,  such  as  the  severely  dignified  '  Lady  Newdi- 
gate,'  one  of  his  most  impressive  pictures,  in  which  the  sweep  of  the 
plain  white  satin  draperies  is  admirably  expressed;  in  the  'Mrs. 
Maxwell '  and  others  ;  but,  taking  them  as  a  body,  they  seem  thin 
and  ineffectual  by  the  side  of  many  of  Sir  Joshua's  noble  full-lengths. 
Such  a  portrait  as  the  '  Mrs.,  afterwards  Lady  Milnes,' belonging  to 
the  Earl  of  Crewe,  elegant  in  design  as  it  may  be,  loses  some  of  its 
attractiveness  when  hanging,  as  it  did  a  year  or  two  ago  in  a  London 
exhibition  room,1  near  such  a  masterpiece  by  Reynolds  as  the  '  Lady 
Elizabeth  Compton.'  The  rich  glowing  colour,  the  vivacity  and  sense 
of  movement  in  the  latter  make  it  singularly  alive,  and  though  the 
decorative  effect  of  the  Romney  is  unmistakable,  in  other  respects  it 
suffers  somewhat  severely  by  the  contrast,  for  his  art  failed  in  its  grasp 
of  reality,  and  was  much  more  restricted  in  range  than  that  of  the  older 
artist,  who  must  always  be  regarded  as  the  true  head  of  the  modern 
school  of  portrait-painting. 

Romney,  nevertheless,  produced  a  number  of  full-lengths  of  very 

1  Messrs.  Agnew  and  Sons,  1904. 

326 


FULL-LENGTH   PORTRAITS   OF  LADIES 


exceptional  qualities.  More  than  one  of  these  has  been  already 
described,  such  as  the  '  Lady  Newdigate ' ;  several  others,  among  the 
best  that  he  accomplished,  are  reproduced  in  this  book  through  the  kind- 
ness of  the  present  owners.  One  of  the  best  known  is  the  portrait  of 
the  beautiful  'Mrs.  Townley  Ward'  belonging  to  Lord  Aldenham, 
which  was  in  the  Romney  Exhibition  at  the  Grafton  Gallery  in  1900. 
This  is  one  of  his  most  '  statuesque '  canvases,  and  is  remarkable  for 
the  fine  design  of  the  draperies.  Mrs.  Townley  Ward,  a  well-known 
society  beauty,  was  the  eldest  daughter  of  William  Hucks,  of  Knares- 
borough.  Romney  painted  her  in  1780.  John  Thomas  Smith,  in  his 
NoUekens  and  his  Times,  speaks  of  the  great  beauty  of  this  lady 
when  describing  John  K.  Sherwin's  drawing  of  '  The  Finding  of 
Moses ' — which  was  the  talk  of  the  town  at  the  time — in  which  he 
introduced  portraits  of  the  Princess  Royal  as  Pharaoh's  Daughter, 
and  the  ladies  of  the  Court  most  distinguished  for  beauty  as  her 
attendants:  '  Lady  Duncannon,  and  her  sisters,  the  Duchess  of  Devon 
shire,  were  in  the  centre  of  the  composition,  surrounded  by  the  rest 
who  composed  the  group,  the  Ladies  Jersey,  the  Duchess  of  Rutland, 
etc.  This  drawing,  from  the  preference  shown,  made  Sherwin  many 
enemies  in  society.  Indeed,  on  the  other  hand,  he  gave  much  offence 
even  to  some  of  those  ladies  whose  portraits  he  had  introduced,  by 
placing  that  of  Mrs.  Townley  Ward,  whose  features  were  certainly  of 
the  grand  cast,  near  to  a  Duchess,  whose  beauty  could  not  stand  the 
comparison.'  Mr.  Charles  Wertheimer's  portrait  of  '  Mrs.  Maxwell ' 
is  another  of  his  successes  in  the  skilful  and  graceful  arrangement  of 
a  flowing  robe  based  upon  a  classical  model.  The  lady's  fair,  expres- 
sive face  is  seen  against  a  wooded  background  of  greater  elaboration 
than  usual.  The  'Anne,  Lady  Townshend,'  in  Lady  Yarborough's 
collection,  later  in  date,  is  simpler  in  arrangement.  The  long  white 
dress  with  its  high  waist  and  close-fitting  sleeves,  is  much  more 
broadly  and  simply  treated  in  long  straight  folds.  Her  hair  is  bound 
round  with  a  large  white  scarf  or  turban,  and  she  leans  with  one  elbow 
on  a  tall  stone  pillar  on  which  a  small  sacrificial  lamp  is  dimly  burning. 
The  classicism  of  the  theme  is  carried  still  further  in  the  background, 
with  its  dark  tree-trunks  suggesting  some  grove  sacred  to  antique  god 
or  goddess.  In  the  full-length  of  the  '  Margravine  of  Anspach  '  (Lady 
Craven),  painted  almost  at  the  end  of  his  life,  Romney  has  revelled  in 
the  painting  of  his  favourite  white  satin,  and  the  shimmer  of  this 
material  has  been  caught  with  great  skill,  and  serves  as  an  admirable 
foil  to  the  handsome  face.    It  is  dated  1797,  and  belongs  to  Lady 

327 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


O'Hagan,  and  is  a  replica  of  the  one  in  the  possession  of  the  Fish- 
mongers' Company,  which  hangs  in  their  hall  with  the  companion 
canvas  of  her  husband.  It  is  a  notable  proof  that  Romney,  even 
when  his  days  were  numbered  and  Iris  health  greatly  shattered, 
still  retained  much  of  the  executive  brilliancy  of  his  maturity. 
Romney  had  painted  the  Margravine  nearly  twenty  years  earlier, 
when  she  was  Countess  of  Craven,  the  '  three-quarters  '  portrait  now 
in  the  National  Gallery,  No.  1669,  which  was  originally  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Horace  Walpole,  who  in  1779  wrote  some  verses  in  praise  of 
Romney  and  his  sitter  which  he  included  in  the  catalogue  of  his 
pictures  and  works  of  art  at  Strawberry  Hill.  The  lady  was  the 
daughter  of  the  fourth  Earl  of  Berkeley,  and  married  in  1767,  when 
she  was  seventeen,  William,  sixth  Earl  of  Craven.  The  marriage  was 
a  very  unhappy  one,  and  the  Countess  caused  considerable  talk  in 
society  through  her  relationship  with  Christian  Frederick,  Margrave 
of  Brandenburg,  Anspach,  and  Bayreuth,  a  nephew  of  Caroline  of 
Anspach,  queen  of  George  II.,  whom  she  eventually  married  after 
the  death  of  Lord  Craven.  The  Margrave  sold  his  principalities  in 
1790  to  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  settled  in  England.  Lady  Craven 
wrote  her  own  memoirs,  and  several  other  works,  and  died  at  Naples 
in  1828.  Lady  O'Hagan's  full-length  portrait  of  her  reproduced  here 
(see  Plate  lvi.)  is  four  years  later  in  date  than  the  one  belonging  to 
the  Fishmongers'  Company,  which  was  painted  in  1793.  The  latter 
was  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibition,  1877, 
No.  234,  together  with  that  of  her  husband. 

The  Margravine  does  not  appear  to  have  been  very  satisfied  with 
Romney 's  renderings  of  her.  In  her  amusing  Memoirs,  published  in 
two  volumes  in  1826,  she  says  :  '  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  to  me,  that 
there  is  no  picture  of  me  which  has  done  me  justice,  nor  is  even  like 
me.  The  figure,  in  all  the  whole  lengths,  is  spoiled  ;  and  even  Madame 
Le  Brun,  who  painted  a  three-quarters'  length  of  me,  has  made  an  arm 
and  hand  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  chest  and  shoulders.  The  picture 
of  me  by  Romney,  which  was  at  Brandenburgh  House,  and  is  now, 
with  that  of  my  two  sons  Berkeley  and  Keppel,  removed  to  Benham, 
has  by  no  means  given  a  just  idea  either  of  my  face  or  figure ;  the 
former  is  too  severe,  and  the  latter  much  too  large.  He  deserves, 
however,  great  praise  for  that  in  which  my  two  sons  are  painted,  the 
eldest  leaning  on  the  youngest's  shoulder,  when  about  the  age  of 
seventeen  or  eighteen,  and  in  which  both  the  likenesses  and  figures 
are  well  preserved.  These  two  elegant  young  men  were  models  for 
328 


THE  MARGRAVINE  OF  ANSPACH 


an  artist ;  but  I  shall  not  dwell  upon  them  now  as  I  shall  have  to  speak 
of  them  hereafter'  (vol.  i.  p.  12). 

Although  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  Romney,  her  account  of  the 
reproof  administered  by  Dr.  Johnson  to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  respect- 
ing her  unfinished  portrait  by  the  latter,  is  too  interesting  to  omit. 
*  One  evening,'  she  says,  '  at  a  party  at  Lady  Lucan's,  when  Johnson 
was  announced,  she  rose  and  made  him  the  most  flattering  compli- 
ments; but  he  interrupted  her,  by  saying  "Fiddle!  faddle,  madam," 
and  turned  his  back  upon  her,  and  left  her  standing  by  herself  in  the 
middle  of  the  room.  He  then  took  his  seat  by  me,  which  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  who  was  present,  perceiving,  he  came  and  sat  down  by  us. 
Johnson  asked  him  what  was  the  reason  he  had  refused  to  finish  the 
picture  for  which  I  had  sat  six  times  :  Reynolds  was  much  embarrassed, 
and  said,  laughing,  "  There  is  something  so  comical  in  the  lady's  face, 
that  all  my  art  cannot  describe  it."  Johnson  repeated  the  word 
comical  ten  times,  in  every  different  tone,  and  finished  in  that  of 
anger.  He  then  gave  such  a  scolding  to  his  friend,  that  he  was 
much  more  embarrassed  than  before,  or  than  even  I  was,  to  be  the 
cause  of  it. 

'  That  picture  is  now  at  Petworth  :  it  was  bought  at  Sir  Joshua's 
sale,  after  his  death,  by  Lord  Egremont.  Angelica  Kauffmann 
painted  one  for  me  a  fortnight  before  I  was  married  to  Mr.  Craven. 
It  is  a  Hebe.  I  sat  for  it,  and  made  a  present  of  it  to  Colonel 
Colleton's  widow,  who  had  given  me  the  500/.  to  deck  me  out  in 
wedding  clothes.  She  was  godmother  to  my  second  daughter,  the 
present  Countess  of  Sefton,  and  left  her  that  picture  by  will  when 
Maria  was  only  two  years  old ;  and  that  which  delighted  her  father, 
hung  up  in  his  dressing-room  for  years :  she  never  lias  asked  for  it, 
and  I  daresay  never  will'  (vol.  ii.  p.  114). 

A  letter  from  Miss  Seward  to  Mrs.  Childers,  dated  August  16th, 
1797,  from  the  newly  discovered  watering-place  then  called  Hoyle 
Lake,  now  famous  for  its  golf-links,  shows  how  the  lady  was  regarded 
by  the  worthy  gossips  and  scandalmongers  of  the  day.  '  On  the  6th,' 
she  writes,  '  arrived  the  fair  frail  Margravine  of  Anspach,  attended 
only  by  domestics^  The  pride  of  virtue  seemed  prodigiously  to  alarm 
our  ladies  about  the  manner  in  which  it  would  be  proper  to  treat  her  ; 
or  whether  they  were  to  receive  or  decline  her  civilities,  should  they 
be  offered ;  but  the  consultations  proved  needless, — she  has  lived 
wholly  in  private.  I  have  seen  her  only  once — it  was  on  the  stairs. 
On  my  stopping  to  give  her  way,  a  radiant  smile  of  conciliation 

329 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


beamed  from  her  eye  and  lip.  I  sighed  to  think  that  the  heart, 
whose  effluence  that  engaging  smile  seemed  to  be,  could  ever  have 
been  libertine.' 

Lord  Hillingdon  owns  the  beautiful  full-length  of  Mrs.  Powys, 
the  friend  and  correspondent  of  Miss  Seward,  and  wife  of  Thomas 
Jelf  Powys,  of  Berwick  House,  Salop.  She  is  seated  to  the  left  in  a 
landscape,  in  a  chair  underneath  an  overhanging  tree,  leaning  forward, 
and  looking  with  a  faint  smile  towards  the  spectator,  resting  her  left 
elbow  on  her  knee  with  the  hand  touching  her  chin,  and  holding  a 
book  in  her  lap  with  the  right.  She  is  dressed  in  white  with  a  pink 
sash,  and  a  large  white  scarf  or  turban  on  her  curled  hair,  with  long 
ends  falling  down  behind  to  her  waist,  a  form  of  head-dress  to  be 
seen  in  a  number  of  Romney's  portraits.  On  the  right  there  is  a 
distant  view  of  a  landscape  with  a  river.  It  was  lent  by  the  Earl  of 
Denbigh  to  the  Royal  Academy  in  1879,  and  again  in  1891  by  Lord 
Hillingdon,  and  is  reproduced  in  Mrs.  Gamlin's  book. 

Two  fine  full-lengths  of  ladies  were  lent  to  the  Royal  Academy 
AVinter  Exhibition  of  1896  by  Lord  Iveagh.  The  portrait  of  Mrs. 
Webster,  afterwards  Lady  Holland,  is  a  remarkable  example,  showing 
Romney  in  one  of  his  most  Grecian  moods.  The  lady,  with  her  fair 
hair  falling  upon  her  shoulders,  stands  in  a  landscape  by  a  pedestal  or 
marble  altar,  on  which  a  sacrificial  vase  is  placed.  She  is  looking  up, 
with  right  hand  upraised,  to  greet  the  sun  rising  behind  lofty  moun- 
tains, in  the  character  of  Clytie  hailing  the  advent  of  Phoebus  Apollo. 
A  representation  of  the  sun  decorates  the  altar,  on  which  her  right 
elbow  rests,  and  also  forms  part  of  the  ornament  of  her  white  dress, 
while  a  sunflower  is  fastened  at  her  bosom,  and  her  head-dress  or 
coronet  is  made  of  white  plumes.  The  attitude  is  a  graceful  one,  and 
the  arrangement  and  painting  of  the  draperies  show  the  artist  to  the 
greatest  advantage.  The  lady,  who  thus  posed  as  the  mistress  of 
a  Greek  god,  was  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Richard  Vassall,  of  Jamaica. 
Her  first  marriage,  with  Godfrey  Webster,  was  dissolved  by  Parlia- 
ment, and  she  afterwards  married  Henry  Richard,  Lord  Holland, 
who  took  the  name  of  Vassall.  The  second  portrait  was  of  Mrs. 
Willett,  seated  in  a  landscape,  with  hands  folded  on  her  lap,  in  a 
low-cut  white  dress,  a  blue  sash,  and  a  large  straw  hat  with  blue 
ribbons.  A  second  portrait  of  her,  a  half-length,  was  No.  84  in  the 
James  Price  sale,  June  15th,  1895.  It  is  an  oval,  and  she  is  repre- 
sented with  her  chin  resting  on  her  left  hand.  Another  full-length 
portrait  of  a  lady  in  a  white  dress,  with  blue  hair-ribbon  and  sash, 
330 


HIS  PORTRAITS   OF  MEN 


Miss  Sarah  Rodbard,  was  sold  at  Messrs.  Christie's  on  June  14th, 
1902,  and  purchased,  after  a  very  spirited  contest,  by  Messrs.  Agnew 
for  the  sum  of  10,500  guineas.  The  lady,  with  hair  curling  to  her 
shoulders,  stands  in  a  landscape,  her  arms  resting  upon  a  stone 
pedestal,  upon  the  top  of  which  a  small  skye-terrier  is  perched.  It 
was  the  property  of  Mr.  Eyre  Coote,  of  West  Park,  Salisbury,  a 
descendant  of  the  lady. 

One  of  Romney's  most  important  full-lengths  is  the  group  of  Sir 
Christopher  and  Lady  Sykes,  which  still  hangs  at  Sledmere.  It  has 
been  recently  engraved  for  the  first  time,  under  the  title  of  '  The 
Evening  Walk.'  It  is  a  very  fine  work,  in  which  the  couple  are 
shown  walking  arm-in-arm  in  their  own  grounds,  accompanied  by  a 
fat  dog.  Sir  Christopher  wears  a  long  scarlet  coat,  and  his  wife  is 
in  white  satin  and  powdered  hair.  The  columns  of  a  temple  are  seen 
on  one  side,  and  the  background  is  a  landscape  with  trees,  and  the 
family  mansion  on  high  ground  in  the  distance. 

Romney  lacked  both  the  intellectuality  of  Reynolds  and  the 
spirituality  of  Gainsborough,  though  in  his  best  works  there  is  no 
want  of  character,  more  particularly  in  his  representations  of  men. 
The  portrait  of  himself  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  is  a  fine  piece 
of  character-reading,  giving  the  moody,  suspicious,  poetic  dreamer  to 
the  life,  while  his  likenesses  of  Hayley  suggest  the  shallowness  and 
self-esteem  of  that  amiable  belauder  of  his  friends,  and  scribbler  of 
dull  and  trivial  verse.  His  fine  '  Gibbon  '  has  been  already  described.1 
In  the  '  Thurlow ' — a  man  Romney  greatly  admired — he  has  been 
successful  in  suggesting  a  personality  possessing  keen  insight  and 
intellect ;  and  in  his  rendering  of  divines,  such  as  the  '  Wesley,'  there 
is  real  appreciation  of  the  calling  and  character  of  the  sitter.  His 
portraits  of  men  of  less  importance,  country  squires,  substantial 
citizens,  his  own  personal  friends,  and  the  like,  painted  in  a  simple 
and  straightforward  manner,  have  dignity  and  a  manly  bearing  which 
stamp  them  with  an  air  of  truth.  Such  qualities  as  these  he  under- 
stood and  reproduced  with  ease,  but  the  more  subtle  traits  of 
character,  if  not  unobserved,  were  at  least  less  often  attempted.  He 
never  achieved  a  likeness  as  complex  as  the  '  Sterne '  of  Sir  Joshua, 
and  rarely  one  as  sympathetic  in  its  insight  as  the  '  Sheridan '  or 
'  Garrick '  of  Gainsborough. 

Among  the  best  of  his  portraits  of  men  are  those  of  his  own 
intimate  friends.    To  paint  them  was  a  labour  of  love,  and,  as  was 

1  See  pasre  120. 

331 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


natural,  he  obtained  a  surer  grasp  of  their  true  character  than  when 
occupied  with  casual  sitters  about  whom  he  knew  little  or  nothing. 
The  crayon  portrait  of '  William  Cowper,'  done  at  Eartham  in  1792, 
is  one  of  his  most  powerful  studies,  which  goes  much  deeper  than 
the  mere  delineation  of  the  outward  features  of  the  man  and  poet. 
It  is  drawn  with  great  vigour  and  decision,  and  is  by  far  the  best 
portrait  of  Cowper  in  existence,  and  may  be  cited  in  evidence  against 
those  who  hold  that  Romney  was  always  an  inferior  painter.  (See 
Plate  xix.)  His  portraits  of  Hay  ley,  though  not  untinged  by  the 
flattery  of  friendship — notably  in  the  full-length  in  which  Flaxman  is 
represented  as  modelling  his  bust,  belonging  to  Mr.  H.  W.  Dawson- 
Greene,  of  Whittington  Hall,  Kirkby  Lonsdale,  the  descendant  of  his 
old  friend  and  admirer,  Thomas  Greene,  in  which  Hayley's  figure  is  of 
undue  length  (see  Plate  xxn.) — are,  nevertheless,  admirable  in  their 
indication  of  the  character  of  one  who  was  a  curious  mixture  of 
shallowness  and  enthusiasm.  The  best  of  them  is,  perhaps,  the  first 
Komney  painted  of  him — the  half-length  engraved  by  Jacobe  in  1779, 
in  which  his  head  rests  on  ins  elbow  supported  by  a  tall  folio  placed 
upright  on  a  table,  now  in  Mr.  C.  Fairfax  Murray's  collection.  (See 
Plate  iv.)  The  head  of  Flaxman  in  the  '  Modelling'  picture  is  another 
truthful  and  affectionate  study,  in  this  case  of  a  fine  and  lovable  char- 
acter, and  one  fired  with  a  true  passion  for  art.  The  later  of  the  two 
portraits  of  Richard  Cumberland,  in  plum -coloured  velvet  trimmed 
with  brown  fur,  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery,  is  a  good  example  of 
his  style  of  work  shortly  after  his  return  from  Italy  (see  Plate  n.);  and 
a  still  finer  example  is  the  portrait  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Carwardine,  of 
Colne  Priory,  Essex,  which  was  one  of  the  first  canvases  he  painted 
after  he  was  back  again  in  London. 

The  small  half-length  of  '  James  Martin,'  of  Overbury  Park, 
banker,  and  M.P.  for  Tewkesbury  in  nine  successive  Parliaments, 
is  one  of  his  simple,  straightforward  portraits,  manly  in  bearing  and 
broadly  executed.  This  picture,  and  a  companion  one  of  '  Richard 
Stone,'  of  similar  qualities,  both  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  R.  Biddulph 
Martin,  were  exhibited  at  Birmingham  in  1900.  While  making  no 
pretensions  to  be  great  portraiture,  they  are  honest  and  sincere, 
and  attract  by  the  evident  truth  of  their  rendering  of  uncomplex 
personalities.  Colonel  Tremayne's  portrait  of  'Sir  William  Lemon,' 
of  Carclew,  Cornwall,  M.P.  for  Penryn,  is  a  still  finer  example  of 
these  qualities,  in  which  the  handsome,  dignified  face  and  aristocratic 
bearing  have  been  rendered  with  directness  and  truth.  (See  Plate  lvii.) 
332 


PORTRAITS   OF  MEN 


The  sympathetic  likeness  of  John  Wesley,  in  which  the  spiritual  side 
of  his  character  is  admirably  caught,  has  been  already  described.1 

One  of  the  best  portraits  of  a  man  Romney  ever  painted  is  the 
half-length  of  John  Oglander,  D.D.,  Warden  of  New  College,  Oxford, 
which  was  No.  118  in  the  Oxford  Exhibition,  1906.  It  is  the  likeness 
of  a  handsome  man  with  an  expressive  mouth,  wearing  a  white  wig, 
black  gown  and  square  bands,  his  right  hand,  which  holds  a  pen, 
resting  on  a  paper  in  front  of  him.  As  a  study  of  character  it  shows 
Romney  at  his  best,  and  in  its  flesh  painting  it  is  masterly.  It  is 
beautifully  luminous  in  the  shadows,  and  the  head,  though  delicately 
painted,  stands  out  firmly  and  strongly  against  the  harmonious  warm 
grey-brown  background.  The  plain  folds  of  the  black  gown  are 
well  arranged.  It  is,  in  fact,  simple  and  direct  in  its  methods,  and 
there  is  a  liquid  flow  in  the  brush-work  which  produces  very  happy 
results.  According  to  the  Oxford  catalogue  it  was  painted  in  1778 
for  the  sum  of  eighteen  guineas.    (See  Plate  i/vm.) 

There  is,  too,  a  fine  full-length  portrait  of  Warren  Hastings  by 
him  which  is  hanging  in  the  India  Office,  behind  the  Secretary  of 
State's  chair.  It  possesses  much  character,  but  is  now  rather  brown 
in  tone,  probably  through  discoloured  varnish.  It  is  reproduced  in 
Messrs.  Humphry  Ward  and  Roberts'  book. 

Romney  could  be  usually  depended  upon  to  produce  a  good, 
manly,  straightforward  portrait  of  a  soldier  or  a  sailor.  Such  an  one 
is  the  three-quarter-length  of  Sir  George  Osborn,  Bart.,  lent  by  Sir 
Algernon  K.  Osborn  to  the  Winter  Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
1906,  No.  53.  This  elderly  man,  with  blue  cheeks  and  chin,  in  all 
the  bravery  of  red  coat  with  blue  facings  and  gold  braid,  and  pale 
grey  waistcoat  and  breeches,  is  shown  nearly  to  the  knees,  with  his 
right  arm  on  a  gun,  against  a  background  of  black  clouds,  as  though 
thick  with  battle  smoke,  while  below  on  the  left  a  glimpse  of  the  sea 
and  fortifications  is  obtained. 

Another  of  his  virile  studies  of  men  is  the  portrait  of  Lieutenant- 
General  Sir  Archibald  Campbell,  K.B.,  governor  and  commander-in- 
chief  on  the  coast  of  Coromandel,  East  Indies,  in  1787,  which  was 
lent  to  the  Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibition  in  1882  by  General 
J.  Studholme  Brownrigg.  It  is  a  three-quarter-length,  in  uniform, 
with  cocked  hat  in  his  hand,  which  rests  on  a  stick,  and  in  the 
distance  a  view  of  Fort  George,  Madras. 

A  third  example,  the  portrait  of  Lieut.- General  Robertson,  R.E., 

1  See  page  155. 

333 


GEORGE  ROMEY 


of  Lawers,  was  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Agnew  and  Sons  in  1905.  It 
is  a  three-quarter-length  figure,  standing  nearly  full  face,  with 
powdered  and  curled  hair  tied  at  the  back,  and  red  coat  with  black 
facings  and  gold  epaulettes,  and  white  waistcoat  and  breeches.  His 
left  hand  rests  on  his  sword,  and  he  holds  a  paper  in  his  right.  It  is 
broadly  and  solidly  painted,  and  of  a  richer  and  more  golden  tone 
than  is  usual  with  Romney.  The  background  shows  the  mouth 
of  a  harbour  with  buildings,  a  lighthouse  on  a  headland,  and  a  sky 
filled  with  dark,  stormy  clouds. 

He  was,  however,  more  often  and  more  completely  successful  in  his 
portraits  of  younger  men.  Youth  and  good  looks  made  just  as  strong 
an  appeal  to  him  in  his  portraits  of  men  as  of  women,  and  the  con- 
templation of  them  usually  impelled  him  to  the  utmost  exertion  of  his 
powers.  Good  health  and  handsome  features,  the  insolence  of  youth 
and  an  aristocratic  carriage,  were  the  distinguishing  marks  of  the  gay 
sparks  of  fashion  who  went  to  him  for  their  portraits.  It  was  seldom 
that  great  profundity  of  character  or  depth  of  feeling  was  to  be  found 
in  the  ranks  which  they  adorned.  This  distinguished  bearing  is  admir- 
ably caught  in  such  portraits  as  that  of  the  young  '  Marquis  of  Staf- 
ford'  (see  Plate  vi.),  or  the  group  of  'Berkeley  and  Keppel  Craven,' 
with  their  delicately  chiselled  features  and  air  of  high  breeding,  while 
the  Van  Dyck  costume  which  Romney,  in  common  with  Reynolds 
and  Gainsborough,  used  on  occasion,  enhances  the  natural  and  graceful 
carriage  of  the  slim  figures.  (See  Plate  lix.)  There  was,  no  doubt, 
some  little  exaggeration  on  the  part  of  the  artist,  which  resulted  in 
a  sacrifice  of  character  in  the  search  for  elegance  and  refinement  of 
features  ;  for  the  habits  and  training  of  the  young  men  about  town 
of  his  day  were  not  of  a  nature  to  produce  an  over-refinement  either 
in  ideas  or  in  appearance.  Still,  such  portraits  as  that  of  the  Earl  of 
Westmorland,  in  the  uniform  of  the  Guards,  or  of  Thomas  Grove, 
have  a  manly  beauty  and  winning  charm  which  are  most  attractive. 

The  three -quarter -length  portrait  of  the  Earl  of  Westmorland, 
belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Jersey,  which  is  reproduced  in  Sir  Herbert 
Maxwell's  book,  is  indeed  one  of  his  most  brilliant  representations  of 
a  handsome  young  aristocrat,  and  it  and  its  equally  beautiful  com- 
panion picture  of  the  Countess,  the  daughter  of  Richard  Child,  the 
banker,  with  whom  the  young  Earl  ran  away  to  Gretna  Green,  make 
a  pair  which  Romney  rarely  surpassed.  The  '  Thomas  Grove,'  of 
Feme,  Wilts,  Master  of  Hounds,  in  the  collection  of  Sir  Walter 
Grove,  Bart.,  is  a  frank  and  manly  picture  of  a  young  country  squire, 
334 


PORTRAITS   OF  YOUNG  MEN 


possessed  of  health,  good  looks,  and  a  happy  disposition.  The  handl- 
ing is  free  and  spirited,  and  the  pose  simple  and  unaffected.  (See 
Plate  lx.)  The  portrait  of  'Sir  John  Reade,'  now  in  the  Elkins 
collection,  in  America,  has  much  in  common  with  it.  Another 
portrait  of  a  handsome  youth  is  that  of  Sir  J.  Yorke,  in  the  pos- 
session of  his  descendant,  the  Hon.  John  Yorke. 

Some  of  his  most  attractive  portraits  of  boys  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Provost's  Lodge,  Eton  College,  including  Earl  Grey,  Samuel  Whit- 
bread,  Lord  Grenville,  and  the  Marquess  Wellesley,  which  were 
painted  as  presents  to  the  headmaster  when  the  boys  left  Eton.  The 
two  last-named  were  exhibited  at  the  Guelph  Exhibition  in  1891. 

A  very  charming  rendering  of  a  young  man,  painted  shortly  after 
his  return  from  Italy,  is  the  portrait  of  George  Parker,  afterwards 
Earl  of  Macclesfield.  He  sat  to  the  artist  just  when  he  came  of  age, 
the  year  before  he  entered  Parliament  as  M.P.  for  Woodstock.  It  is 
a  half-length,  quiet  and  restrained,  with  careful  handling  in  the  flesh 
painting,  showing  a  delicate  and  refined  face,  with  arched  eyebrows 
and  brown  hair,  brushed  high  over  the  forehead,  and  slight  curls  over 
the  ears  and  the  nape  of  the  neck.  The  arms  are  shown  only  to  the 
elbows.  Over  his  shoulders  he  wears  a  green  cloak  trimmed  with 
gold  braid,  probably  a  Masonic  gown,  which  was  originally  blue,  but 
has  changed  colour  with  time.  The  head  stands  out  against  a  dark 
stormy  sky,  and  below  on  the  left  there  is  a  glimpse  of  a  distant  land- 
scape, with  a  low  hill  something  like  Vesuvius.  It  was  No.  200  in  the 
Oxford  Exhibition,  1906,  and  according  to  the  catalogue  was  painted  in 
1776-7  for  a  fee  of  eighteen  guineas.  It  was  presented  by  the  sitter  to 
Thomas  Bray,  rector  of  Exeter  College,  as  soon  as  it  was  finished.  Other 
portraits  exhibited  at  Oxford  were  No.  181,  Shute  Barrington,  Bishop 
of"  Salisbury,  painted  in  1784,  and  No.  199,  Thomas  Reynolds  Moreton, 
Earl  of  Ducie,  a  copy  by  Theophilus  Clarke  of  a  lost  original  by  Rom- 
ney,  to  whom,  according  to  the  Oxford  catalogue,  the  Earl  sat  in  1794. 

He  painted  a  number  of  handsome  young  men  of  a  more  ordinary 
type,  with  no  great  inspiration,  such  as  the  portrait  of  Ralph  William 
Cartwright,  of  Aynhoe,  which  was  No.  88  in  the  Royal  Academy 
Winter  Exhibition,  1906,  lent  by  Mr.  W.  C.  Cartwright.  It  was 
done  about  1789,  and  is  a  half-length,  facing  the  spectator,  with 
the  head  turned  to  the  left.  He  wears  a  blue  velvet  coat  with 
high  collar,  a  white  neckcloth  tied  in  a  bow,  and  a  black  cloak  over 
his  shoulders.  The  powdered  hair  has  been  put  in  with  hasty, 
'  feathery  '  touches,  and  the  flesh  painting  is  of  a  golden-brown  tone. 

335 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


It  was,  however,  his  power  of  idealising  womanly  beauty  which 
made  his  studio  so  popular,  while  the  purity  and  simplicity  of  his  treat- 
ment, from  its  very  novelty,  proved  peculiarly  attractive  to  society 
ladies  who  were  the  slaves  of  a  fashion  in  dress  which  had  been  growing 
more  outrageous  every  year.  He  had  the  art  of  giving  not  only  an 
undoubted  likeness,  but  also  of  suffusing  his  canvas  with  that  sense  of 
beauty  and  of  grace,  which  was  in  certain  instances,  perhaps,  a  little 
lacking  in  the  sitters  themselves.  This  grace — the  word  has  to  be  used 
so  often  that  it  becomes  monotonous — is  a  little  difficult  to  define 
accurately  in  words,  but  is  felt  readily  enough  in  front  of  the  canvas 
itself. 

It  is  in  these  portraits  of  women  and  children  that  his  art  reaches 
its  highest  manifestations.  Putting  aside  the  many  merely  '  pretty  ' 
examples,  which  possess  little  or  no  character,  but  merely  a  cloying 
sweetness,  there  are  still  a  large  number  remaining,  such  as  those 
described  in  the  preceding  chapter,  which  show  him  as  a  painter  of 
brilliant  capabilities,  with  a  tender  appreciation  of  the  flower-like 
beauty  of  English  girlhood  and  radiant  youth,  such  as  few  others  of  his 
contemporaries  could  show  to  an  equal  degree.  In  such  a  portrait  as 
that  of  the  Hon.  Louisa  Cathcart,  Countess  of  Mansfield,  a  splendid 
example  of  his  most  sculpturesque  form  of  art,  the  colour  is  both 
delicate  and  subtle;  the  pose,  though  based  on  a  classical  convention, 
is  natural,  graceful,  and  dignified ;  and  the  features,  with  their  almost 
Grecian  severity,  have  beauty  of  character  as  well  as  mere  surface 
loveliness.  In  such  an  example  as  this,  and  in  many  others  which 
have  been  named,  there  is  much  more  than  a  mere  delight  in  the 
rendering  of  lovely,  glowing  womanhood  ;  there  is  a  purity  and  refine- 
ment in  the  conception  both  of  character,  outline,  and  colour,  which 
places  them  on  a  very  high  level,  and  they  will  always  suffice  to  make 
good  Romney's  claims  to  a  position  high  up  in  the  roll  of  the  world's 
great  painters.  Several  of  these  fine  things,  upon  which  his  fame 
must  ultimately  rest,  have  been  described  in  the  preceding  pages, 
and  more  than  one  of  them  is  reproduced  in  this  volume ;  and 
each  grows  in  delight  as  its  forms,  composition,  and  colouring  are 
studied.  The  '  Mrs.  Lee  Acton  '  has  been  already  extolled  as  a  canvas 
in  which  Romney's  art  is  supreme.  Few  portraits  so  purely  conceived, 
so  characteristic  of  the  fresh  and  glowing  beauty  of  winsome  English 
girlhood,  have  ever  been  accomplished  in  this  country.  It  is  a  true 
classic  of  the  British  school,  and  to  the  man  who  painted  it  the  name 
of  master  must  be  accorded.  If  he  was  not  always  as  fine  as  this,  he 
336 


THE  FACILITY  OF  HIS  TECHNIQUE 


not  seldom  came  near  it,  in  portraits  in  which  the  exceptional  richness 
and  delicacy  of  the  flesh  tints,  and  the  fine  though  simple  taste  and 
drawing  of  the  draperies,  show  how  far  he  could  go  when  he  was  both 
in  sympathy  with  his  subject,  and  more  careful  and  deliberate  in  his 
methods  than  his  crowds  of  sitters  and  his  rapidity  of  handling  often 
allowed  him  to  be. 

At  times  he  could  paint  a  head  with  such  boldness  and  unhesitating 
vigour  that  it  produces  a  vivid,  almost  startling,  effect  of  vitality. 
Such  portraits  as  the  '  Mrs.  Clayton  Glyn,'  belonging  to  Mr.  Pierpont 
Morgan,  '  Miss  Finch-Hatton,'  in  Mr.  Frick's  collection  in  America,  or 
the  '  Mrs.  Rattray  '  and  '  Miss  Mary  Johnson  '  illustrated  here,  are  fine 
examples  of  his  command  of  a  rapid  and  assured  technique.  (See 
Plates  lxi.  and  lxii.)  In  such  as  these  he  approaches  his  subject 
with  no  uncertainty  or  hesitation,  but  expresses  what  he  wishes  to 
convey  at  once,  and  with  an  easy  mastery  of  his  materials.  They 
may  lack  something  of  the  purely  decorative  grace  of  his  more  careful 
work,  but  they  possess  on  the  other  hand  an  energy  and  directness 
which  are  as  attractive  as  they  are  unusual  with  him.  In  them  all 
other  parts  of  the  canvas  are  subordinated  to  the  head  itself,  which 
is  placed  upon  it  with  such  boldness  and  force  that  it  may  easily  have 
been  completed  after  one  or  two  short  sittings.  It  is  true  that  in 
many  instances  this  subordination  of  the  dress  and  background  may  be 
due  to  some  extent  to  Romney's  curious  inability  -to  finish  his  work, 
which  grew  more  marked  towards  the  end  of  his  life.  As  already  seen, 
it  was  not  unusual  for  him  to  keep  a  portrait  for  three  or  four  years 
before  he  would  let  it  go,  and  no  doubt  occasions  arose  when  unusually 
impatient  sitters  took  away  their  unfinished  likenesses  in  despair  of 
ever  getting  the  last  touches  put  upon  them.  In  such  as  these,  the 
dress  is  merely  indicated  with  a  few  bold  touches,  dashed  in  with  a 
hasty  brush,  which  in  themselves  have  little  or  no  beauty,  and  so  are 
in  marked  contrast  to  his  more  elaborately  finished  draperies. 

The  portrait  of  Miss  Finch-Hatton  is  an  exceptionally  good  example 
of  his  mastery  of  technique.  The  painting  of  the  elaborately  dressed 
hair  with  its  powdered  curls,  and  the  modelling  of  the  face  of  this 
handsome  young  lady  of  somewhat  opulent  charms,  are  both  admirable, 
and  display  to  the  full  the  power  of  an  assured  and  unfaltering  hand. 
There  is  here  less  of  that  purely  decorative  grace  which  has  been 
noted  as  one  of  the  most  attractive  qualities  of  many  of  his  earliest 
portraits,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  he  has  been  unusually  successful  in 
suggesting  the  character  of  his  sitter,  which  is  one  of  energy  and 

G.  R. — 22  qow 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


determination.  It  bears  a  close  resemblance  in  arrangement  and 
method  to  the  '  Mrs.  Clayton  Glyn.' 

In  his  portraits  of  children  he  was  often  supremely  happy,  and  it  is 
curious  that  a  man  whose  own  children  were  almost  unknown  to  him, 
for  his  little  girl  died  when  barely  three  years  old,  and  his  son  was 
almost  a  stranger  to  him  until  he  had  reached  man's  estate,  should  yet 
have  been  so  keenly  sympathetic  in  his  renderings  of  childhood.  Such 
subjects  were  never  treated  more  happily  by  either  Sir  Joshua  or 
Gainsborough.  Their  delicate,  almost  spiritual  beauty  made  the 
strongest  appeal  to  him,  and  he  was  almost  always  entirely  successful 
in  painting  them.  Here  again,  sweetness  and  grace  were  what  he 
chiefly  looked  for  and  found,  and  the  happy  innocence  of  infancy  was 
never  more  delightfully  expressed. 

Some  of  the  best  of  them  have  been  described  on  earlier  pages. 
Nothing  could  well  be  more  charming  than  such  a  group  as  that  of  the 
little  Stanleys,  son  and  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Derby,  the  boy  with 
his  head  turned  over  his  shoulder  and  the  girl  with  a  bird  held  up  to 
her  chin.  The  action  of  little  Maria  Clavering,  clasping  her  puppy,  is 
just  as  true  and  delightful,  while  the  arrangement  of  her  flowing  scarf, 
blown  into  arabesques  by  the  wind,  is  frankly  decorative. 

His  children  are  always  little  ladies  and  gentlemen  ;  quiet  almost 
to  sedateness  on  occasion,  like  '  Lord  Henry  Petty,'  or  serious  almost 
to  primness,  like  the  Thurlow  sisters,  in  their  best  frocks  and  on  their 
best  behaviour;  but  always  fresh  and  innocent,  and  breathing  the  real 
air  of  happy  youth.  They  lack,  perhaps,  the  vivacity  and  that 
suggestion  of  almost  malicious  slyness  and  mischievousness  which 
mark  some  of  Sir  Joshua's  portraits  of  children,  and  the  more  exuberant 
qualities  of  youth  ;  and  they  do  not,  perhaps,  show  quite  the  same 
insight  as  is  to  be  found  in  such  a  portrait  as  Gainsborough's  '  Miss 
Tryon,'  in  the  AVallace  Collection,  but  they  possess,  nevertheless,  a 
charm  and  sweetness  all  their  own,  which  explains  the  eagerness  of 
affectionate  parents  to  take  their  children  to  his  studio. 

It  is  when  Romney  brings  mother  and  child  together  on  a  single 
canvas  that  he  reaches  a  point  beyond  which  even  his  greatest  con- 
temporaries could  not  go.  Such  a  combination  made  an  irresistible 
appeal  to  the  finest  feelings  of  which  he  was  capable,  and  imbued  his 
art  with  a  deeper  and  purer  insight,  bringing  into  play  that  strain  of 
true  poetry  which  burned  within  him.  The  contemplation  of  mother- 
hood roused  in  him  the  tenderest  emotions,  and  he  pictured  it  with 
singular  happiness  and  nobility,  so  that  the  intensity  of  the  love 
338 


PORTRAITS   OF  MOTHER  AND  CHILD 


which  binds  mother  and  child  has  been  rarely  conceived  with  truer 
understanding,  or  more  sweetly  and  simply  set  on  canvas.  It  is, 
perhaps,  in  subjects  such  as  these  that  his  Italian  studies  are 
most  apparent,  for  more  than  one  of  them  suggests  a  Madonna  and 
Child. 

This  sentiment  of  maternal  love  finds  very  noble  expression  in  the 
group  of  Mrs.  Carwardine  and  her  baby  boy,  and  is  seen  again  very 
perfectly,  and  with  a  singular  elegance  of  design,  in  the  portrait  of  the 
Duchess  of  Gordon  and  her  son.  In  the  unknown  '  Mother  and  Child  ' 
in  the  National  Gallery  there  is  a  pathetic  wistfulness  portrayed  on  the 
mother's  face,  as  she  clasps  her  child  closely  to  her,  as  though  fearing 
to  lose  it,  which  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the  smiles  and  laughter  of 
the  '  Mrs.  Canning,'  which  is  one  of  the  most  enchanting  pictures  of 
the  delight  of  mother  and  child  in  one  another  which  has  ever  been 
painted. 

Examples  could  be  multiplied  if  the  point  needed  emphasis : 
pictures  such  as  the  '  Mrs.  Morris  and  Child,'  in  which  the  little  one 
stands  upright  on  her  mother's  knee,  with  one  small  arm  flung  round 
her  neck,  while  the  mother  clasps  the  child's  hands  and  lays  her  cheek 
against  its  chest ; 1  or  the  one  already  described,  of  Lady  Russell 
holding  up  her  boy  so  that  he  may  look  at  himself  in  the  glass,  a  very 
happy  and  natural  pose. 

In  all  of  these,  and  in  those  larger  groups  in  which  more  than  one 
child  is  introduced,  such  as  the  '  Mrs.  Stables  '  and  the  '  Countess  of 
Warwick '  pictures,  Romney  displays  so  sympathetic  and  tender  a 
feeling,  that  so  long  as  his  canvases  endure  they  will  be  a  source  of 
constant  delight  to  all  who  come  under  their  spell. 

Though  he  cannot  be  regarded  as  an  animal  painter,  Romney,  like 
more  than  one  of  his  artistic  contemporaries,  loved  dogs  and  some- 
times painted  them  well,  and  nearly  always  quite  adequately.  He 
introduced  them  with  good  effect  into  some  of  his  earliest  pictures. 
The  dog  in  the  small  full-length  of  Mr.  Jacob  Morland,in  the  National 
Gallery,  already  mentioned,  though  painted  in  a  hard  manner,  has 
been  studied  from  life  with  great  care.  At  times  he  failed,  as  in  the 
greyhound  in  the  early  portrait  of  Mrs.  Wilbraham  Bootle,  and  in  the 
bounding  animal  in  '  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Bacchante.' 

There  is  a  capital  fox-terrier  in  the  portrait  of  the  Duchess  of 
Gordon,  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower's  book,  and  in 

1  Exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  Winter  Exhibition,  1882,  No.  169,  by  General  C.  Morris, 
and  said  in  the  catalogue  to  have  been  painted  in  1777. 

339 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


the  Burlington  Magazine  for  February  1904,  and  a  good  skye-terrier 
in  the  full-length  of  Miss  Sarah  Rodbard.  Equal  praise  can  be  given 
to  the  dogs  in  the  Clavering  Children  group,  in  the  portraits  of  Thomas 
and  John  Fane,  in  the  late  Lord  Burton's  collection,  and  in  Romney's 
first  portrait  of  the  fair  Emma,  now  known  as  '  Nature.'  There  is 
also  an  excellent  one  in  the  portrait  of  an  unknown  boy  in  a  white 
dress,  with  golden  hair,  a  slight  but  very  beautiful  work,  which  was 
formerly  in  the  S.  Mendel  and  Mieville  collections,  and  realised  210 
guineas  at  the  former  sale  in  1875,  and  1650  guineas  at  the  latter  in 
1897.  The  boy  is  nursing  the  dog  in  his  arms.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  animal  in  the  fine  full-length  group  of  Sir  Christopher  and  Lady 
Sykes  is  a  lumpish-looking  creature,  but  it  may  have  been  an  old 
family  favourite,  grown  old,  and  fat,  and  scant  of  breath. 

In  his  more  rapid  sketches  and  hasty  studies  for  pictures  Romney 
now  and  then  succeeded  in  getting  very  doggish  characteristics  with 
a  few  bold  strokes,  as  in  the  animal,  for  instance,  which  he  has 
indicated  lying  lazily  by  the  side  of  the  chair  in  which  the  fair 
'  Sempstress '  is  seated,  in  Captain  Josceline  Bagot's  first  study  for 
that  well-known  picture.  Two  dogs  are  dashed  in  in  the  same  bold 
way  in  a  beautiful  sepia  study,  belonging  to  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland 
Gower,  for  a  portrait  of  a  mother  and  child  in  a  landscape,  looking  at 
a  book.1 

In  the  few  attempts  he  made  to  represent  other  animals  he  was 
less  successful.  More  than  one  canvas  was  laid  aside  unfinished,  owing 
to  the  want  of  the  necessary  model — some  fawn,  or  goat,  for  instance, 
from  which  to  paint ;  and  in  more  than  one  case,  such  as  the  '  Alope,' 2 
he  was  obliged  to  call  in  the  aid  of  a  brother  painter.  Lions  and 
tigers  he  knew  nothing  about,  and  so  wisely  went  to  Gilpin  for 
assistance.  The  wolves  and  the  leopard  crouching  at  the  feet  of 
Lady  Hamilton  in  the  '  Circe '  picture  were  painted  in,  with  very 
infelicitous  results,  by  his  friend  Long,  the  surgeon,  who  purchased 
the  canvas  at  Romney's  sale.  In  all  probability  these  additions  were 
not  the  original  idea  of  the  purchaser,  but  had  been  roughly  indicated 
by  the  artist,  with  every  intention  of  finishing  them  at  some  later 
date,  whenever  an  opportunity  arose  of  making  studies  from  the  life 
of  the  necessary  wild  beasts.  Here  and  there,  too,  sketches  are  to  be 
found,  among  the  drawings  at  Cambridge  and  elsewhere,  in  which 
horses  or  cattle  are  included.  Three  of  the  designs  in  the  Fitzwilliam 
Museum  are  taken  from  the  pastoral  romance  of  Longus,  in  one  of 

1  See  page  364.  2  The  lions  are  said  to  have  been  painted  by  Gilpin. 

340 


ROMNEY  AS  AN  ANIMAL  PAINTER 


which  he  has  introduced  a  rapidly  drawn  herd  of  cattle  with  good 
effect. 

It  was  his  intention — how  often  has  this  to  be  said  of  him ! — to 
have  painted  from  these  last-mentioned  studies  a  couple  of  pictures, 
with  figures  the  size  of  life,  and  he  had  prepared  a  place  behind  his 
painting-room  to  which  cattle  might  be  brought,  in  order  that  he 
might  paint  them  directly  from  Nature.  '  It  is  to  be  regretted,' 
says  his  son,  '  that  other  engagements  at  the  time  interfered  with  this 
scheme.' 

John  Romney  speaks  more  than  once,  with  some  slight  filial 
exaggeration,  of  his  father's  skill  in  the  painting  of  dogs.  Of  the 
pointer  in  the  portrait  of  Jacob  Morland  he  says : — '  No  representa- 
tion can  approach  nearer  to  the  truth  of  nature  than  the  portrait  of 
this  dog;  the  sleekness  of  the  skin,  and  the  characteristic  sagacity  of 
the  animal  are  so  well  depicted  as  to  give  it  the  appearance  of  reality  ' ; 
and  he  thinks  that  the  three  spaniels  in  the  early  portrait  of  Colonel 
George  Wilson  'are  painted  in  a  style  that  would  do  credit  to  the 
pencil  of  Snyders.'  He  returns  to  the  subject  in  another  place, 
declaring  that  Romney  '  by  a  rare  rapidity  and  facility  of  pencil,  could 
impart  to  them  all  the  apparent  action  and  vivacity  of  life,'  instancing 
as  a  proof  of  this  contention  the  Pomeranian  dog  in  the  portrait  of 
Master  Paine,  the  spaniels  in  the  Clavering  picture,  and  a  '  Spaniel 
baiting  a  Cat '  painted  for  the  Duchess  of  Richmond,  the  wife  of  one 
of  his  earliest  patrons  in  London. 

Still  less  often  did  he  attempt  to  paint  horses.  He  has  introduced 
one  very  prominently  in  the  '  Shipwreck '  picture,  but  this  is  only 
known  to-day  by  the  engraving  Blake  made  of  it  for  Hayley's  book. 
There  is  a  good  horse,  too,  in  the  whole-length  portrait  of  John 
Walter  Tempest,  engraved  by  James  Walker  in  1781,  in  which  the 
animal  is  stooping  to  drink  at  a  pool,  his  young  master,  standing  by 
his  side,  holding  the  reins ;  and  another  in  the  full-length  of  John 
Christian  Curwen,  which  is  not  so  good  ;  while  a  third  is  represented  in 
the  portrait  of  Colonel  Braddyll,  though  this  is  said  to  have  been 
painted  by  Gilpin. 

It  must  be  allowed,  however,  that  he  was  an  animal  painter  of 
only  modest  abilities,  and  that  even  his  dogs  were  rarely  as  good  as 
Sir  Joshua's,  and  in  no  way  equal  to  those  which  Gainsborough  was 
so  fond  of  introducing  into  his  portraits. 


341 


XXVI 


ROMNEY  at  his  best  was  one  of  the  simplest  and  most  natural 
of  painters.  His  technical  range  was  a  narrow  one,  and  in 
practice  he  very  rarely  departed  from  the  methods  which 
marked  his  earliest  efforts — methods  which  were  the  result  of  his  own 
experiments  and  experience,  and  owed  little  or  nothing  to  the  precepts 
of  any  particular  school,  or  the  instruction  of  any  one  master.  His 
limitations  were  narrow  when  compared  with  those  of  some  of  his 
contemporaries,  but  within  them  he  accomplished  much  work  of 
superfine  quality,  imbued  with  a  delicate  appreciation  of  physical 
beauty,  a  grace  of  line,  and  simplicity  and  dignity  of  design ;  so  that 
his  best  portraits  make  an  irresistible  appeal  both  by  the  purity  of 
their  conception  and  by  the  loveliness  of  the  vision  which  the  painter 
saw  so  vividly  and  set  upon  his  canvas  with  such  directness  and 
sympathy.  When  gazing  upon  them  his  faults  are  forgotten  ;  and 
that  he  had  faults,  often  serious  ones,  must  be  acknowledged  by  even 
his  greatest  admirers.  His  drawing  was  frequently  faulty,  and  at 
times  bad,  while  throughout  his  whole  career  his  knowledge  of  anatomy 
was  superficial  and  inadequate.  He  was  hampered  at  all  points  by  his 
lack  of  sound  early  training.  If,  when  still  a  young  man,  he  had  been 
placed  for  a  year  or  two  with  some  artist  of  real  ability,  he  might  have 
attained  to  the  highest  rank  among  the  greatest  portrait  painters  of 
his  own  or  earlier  days. 

As  it  was,  in  spite  of  incessant  labour  to  improve,  more  especially 
during  his  stay  in  Italy,  which  was  made  too  late  in  life  to  be  of  much 
service  in  the  direction  in  which  his  art  most  needed  strengthening,  he 
never  overcame  certain  difficulties,  the  complete  mastery  of  which  is 
necessary  before  those  secure  foundations  can  be  laid  upon  which  the 
greatest  art  must  always  be  built.  He  probably  painted  more  bad 
pictures  than  either  of  his  two  great  rivals ;  and  this  was  due  partly 
to  the  unusual  number  of  his  sitters,  which  obliged  him  at  times  to 
hurry  over  his  work,  and  to  practise  a  hasty  and  summary  handling 
which  was  apt  to  become  careless  and  conventional ;  and  in  part 
because,  as  a  rule,  he  depended  upon  his  subject  for  inspiration  and 
not  upon  himself ;  and,  not  infrequently,  his  fashionable  clients  were 
342 


FAULTS  AND   EXCELLENCES   OF   HIS  ART 


singularly  uninspiring.  In  this  way  he  is  less  fitted  to  stand  the  test  of 
an  exhibition  devoted  entirely  to  his  own  work  than  Reynolds,  or 
even  Gainsborough  with  all  his  inequalities.  In  such  a  collection  as 
that  brought  together  in  1900  at  the  Grafton  Gallery,  an  exhibition 
which  contained  both  a  number  of  his  masterpieces  and  many  very 
inferior  examples,  his  faults  were,  perhaps,  more  evident  than  his 
great  qualities.  This  exhibition  made  it  clear  that  his  breadth  on 
occasion  was  apt  to  degenerate  into  mere  emptiness,  that  his  colour 
was  often  flat,  thin,  and  poor,  and  his  flesh  tones  hot ;  that  his  manipula- 
tion was  at  times  loose  and  careless,  and  his  knowledge  of  form 
faulty;  while  he  repeated  his  motives  so  often,  and  placed  his  sitter 
in  the  same  attitudes  so  frequently,  that  in  a  collection  of  some 
hundreds  of  his  canvases  his  frequent  poverty  of  imagination  and  lack 
of  invention  in  composition  becomes  too  insistent.  In  this  latter 
direction,  indeed,  he  displays  little  of  the  variety  of  his  two  great 
contemporaries. 

If,  however,  these  less  successful  efforts  are  put  on  one  side,  and 
attention  is  concentrated  upon  his  finest  works — and  he  accomplished 
many  of  them  in  his  time — all  his  faults  are  forgotten  or  forgiven  in 
the  contemplation  of  the  many  high  qualities  which  render  his  art 
so  fascinating. 

He  was,  in  his  own  way,  one  of  the  most  original  of  artists,  and 
the  technical  methods  he  adopted  were  very  largely  the  result  of 
personal  experiments  which  he  found  best  suited  his  purpose,  while 
his  ideals  were  always  noble  and  lofty  ones,  and  his  continual  aim  was 
so  to  improve  himself  in  his  art  that  he  might  embody  them  on 
canvas  at  least  adequately. 

He  was  one  of  the  most  poetical  painters  his  century  produced,  a 
dreamer  of  dreams,  a  man  haunted  by  visions  of  beauty  which  he  never 
ceased  to  struggle  to  express,  sometimes  with  complete  success,  and 
sometimes  failing  to  realise  in  paint  what  was  pictured  so  vividly  in 
his  brain.  '  He  had  the  gift  of  seizing  and  fixing  on  his  canvas  that 
strange  evanescent  spirit  of  female  beauty,  that  Fata  Morgaiia  of 
painting,  which  greater  artists  than  Romney  have  seen,  but  failed  to 
secure,'  as  Mr.  Lionel  Cust  notes.  This  search  after  the  complete 
expression  of  beauty  he  often  carried  to  excess,  so  that  the  result 
becomes  mere  prettiness,  and  cloys  from  its  very  sweetness,  as  in  some 
of  the  pictures  which  made  Greuze  so  popular  an  artist  in  his  day ; 
but  often,  too,  when  the  inspiration  compelled  him  to  the  utmost  of 
his  powers,  he  saw  beyond  and  below  the  mere  surface  loveliness  and 

343 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 

reached  that  higher  beauty  of  character  which,  half-hidden  to  the 
unobservant  behind  the  facial  mask,  yet  shines  through  the  eyes, 
illuminating  and  vivifying  the  beauty  of  the  features  by  its  revelation 
of  the  human  soul  behind  them.  In  such  canvases  as  these  he  reaches 
more  than  once  almost  the  highest  pinnacle  of  artistic  success,  as  in 
the  wonderful  portrait  of  Mrs.  Lee  Acton,  which  is  not  only  irradiated 
with  a  beauty  which  is  irresistibly  charming,  but  possesses  dignity  and 
simplicity  as  well. 

In  '  Serena  Reading,'  the  same  result  is  obtained.  Simplicity  and 
dignity  were  the  two  qualities  for  which  Romney  always  consciously 
strove,  and  the  '  Serena '  is  an  example  of  how  enchanting  an  effect  he 
could  produce  by  them.  This  little  picture  embodies  with  great 
completeness  all  that  was  the  best  in  Romney 's  art,  possessing  both 
grace  and  ease  in  its  arrangement  and  the  flow  of  its  simple  lines,  an 
assured  handling  in  the  painting  of  the  white  dress,  and  an  exquisite 
sympathy  in  its  appreciation  of  the  modesty  and  purity  of  youth,  the 
whole  effect  intensified  by  that  strain  of  imaginative  poetry  which 
possessed  Romney,  though  it  rarely  found  perfect  expression  in  his 
works,  except  in  certain  of  his  portraits  of  children. 

To  the  school  of  poetry  and  sentiment — which  sometimes  de- 
generated into  the  merely  sentimental— Romney  belonged,  and  in  him 
it  found,  if  not  its  highest,  yet  a  very  pure  and  lofty  expression ;  the 
school  which  included,  in  their  very  different  degrees,  such  artists  as 
Flaxman,  William  Blake,  Thomas  Stothard,  Fuseli,  and  the  whole 
body  of  sentimentalists  from  Angelica  Kauffmann  downwards.  The 
close  and  constant  study  which  Romney  gave  to  Greek  and  Roman 
sculpture,  not  only  during  the  two  years  of  his  residence  in  Rome,  but 
for  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  London,  where  he  filled  his  studio  with 
casts  from  many  famous  masterpieces,  had  a  natural  and  very  marked 
effect  upon  his  painting,  not  only  in  the  composition  of  his  subjects 
and  the  arrangement  and  handling  of  his  draperies,  but  also  at  times 
in  the  painting  of  the  face  itself,  so  that  the  effect  he  produced  was 
often  more  sculpturesque  than  pictorial.  In  many  of  his  clear-cut 
profile  portraits  the  inspiration  of  some  Greek  gem  or  cameo  is 
suggested,  and  was,  no  doubt,  often  the  actual  source  of  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  picture. 

It  was  the  constant  study  of  these  remains  of  the  great  art  of  a 
past  age,  for  which  he  professed  so  boundless  an  admiration,  that 
caused  him  to  strive  for  similar  qualities  in  his  own  painting,  and 
produced  that  simplicity  of  method,  purity  of  outline,  and  nobility  of 
344 


HIS  TREATMENT   OF  DRAPERIES 


effect  which  became  his  highest  ideals.  It  is  owing  to  such  qualities 
as  these  that  Romney's  designs  have  so  much  in  common  with  those 
of  his  younger  contemporary  and  friend,  John  Flaxman.  His  imagina- 
tion was  less  vivid  and  much  more  fickle  and  superficial  than  that  of 
William  Blake,  and  his  visions  had  not  the  wide  range,  the  depth,  and 
the  loftiness  which  gave  reality  to  the  dreams  of  that  extraordinary 
genius  ;  but  the  two  men  were  of  the  same  school,  more  particularly  in 
the  methods  of  expression  they  employed  to  embody  their  thoughts 
in  concrete  form.  In  many  of  Romney's  charcoal  and  other  unfinished 
studies  the  design  frequently  suggests  Blake,  while  in  the  '  Tempest ' 
picture  the  small  forms  of  Ariel  and  other  sprites  and  fairies  riding  on 
the  clouds  at  once  recall  similar  graceful  figures  in  Blake's  mystic  books. 

The  school  to  which  Romney  belonged,  emotional  and  poetic  in  its 
aspirations,  was  in  marked  contrast  to  that  of  Sir  Joshua  and  his 
followers,  which  was  based  upon  more  complex  theories  and  a  closer 
study  of  the  great  painting  of  the  past,  wider  in  its  range,  and  far  more 
versed  in  the  subtleties  of  light  and  shade  and  of  colour,  and  seeking  a 
more  complete  realisation  of  nature.  Romney's  art,  on  the  other  hand, 
displays  far  less  realism,  and  has  a  singularly  decorative  effect,  and 
he  obtained  his  results  in  the  modelling  of  his  flesh,  more  by  delicacy 
in  the  gradation  of  tints  than  by  elaborate  devices  of  chiaroscuro. 

In  the  management  and  rendering  of  li is  draperies,  to  which  atten- 
tion has  been  already  called,  he  was  often  extremely  happy,  and  in  this 
respect  he  was  not  surpassed,  and,  indeed,  rarely  equalled,  by  any  one 
of  his  contemporaries.  Something  of  this  he  owed  to  his  study  of 
antique  sculptures,  but  much  came  from  his  habit  of  painting  the 
whole  of  his  pictures  himself.  Though  he  had  a  pupil  or  assistant 
from  time  to  time,  it  was  seldom  he  allowed  them  to  put  brush  to  one 
of  his  own  canvases.  He  finished  everything  himself,  and  never 
called  in  the  drapery-painter  to  his  assistance,  as  was  the  constant 
habit  of  many  artists  of  his  day.  This  method,  though  by  reason  of  it 
many  of  his  portraits  remained  unfinished  in  his  studio  for  a  number  of 
years  before  they  were  finally  delivered  to  his  clients,  had  the  advan- 
tage of  giving  unity  to  his  work,  and  a  greater  beauty  and  truth  in  all 
the  accessories  of  dress  than  is  to  be  found  in  the  portraits  of  more 
than  one  eighteenth-century  painter  of  reputation.  There  is  nothing 
extravagant  or  voluptuous  in  them,  and  little  of  the  flutter  and  abandon 
in  which  Gainsborough  delighted,  but,  instead,  a  graceful  and  flowing 
line,  with  a  few  large  folds  falling  in  beautiful  curves,  which  look  as 
though  they  had  been  taken  almost  directly  from  the  antique.  Their 

345 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


beauty,  indeed,  was  the  beauty  of  great  simplicity,  and  in  this  way 
they  made  a  strong  appeal  to  a  sculptor  like  Flaxman,  whose  ideal 
was  one  of  classic  severity.  It  was  only  when  he  attempted  a  more 
hasty  summary  of  a  lady's  costume,  something  in  the  manner  of  which 
Gainsborough  was  a  master,  that  Romney  failed.  In  these  attempts, 
dashed  in  with  a  few  bold  strokes,  which  in  themselves  have  little  or 
no  beauty,  he  in  no  way  approaches  the  light  and  feathery  touches  of 
the  other,  who,  even  in  his  most  rapid  and  apparently  careless  sum- 
mary of  such  things  as  a  frill  of  lace  or  the  ripple  of  a  knot  of  ribbon, 
rarely  failed  to  obtain  with  surprising  skill  the  effects  at  which  he 
aimed.  Romney  could  only  reach  an  equal  success  by  more  careful 
methods,  and  when  he  abandoned  them  the  result  was  often  one 
merely  of  careless  incompleteness. 

He  was  so  popular  a  painter  in  his  day  that  he  helped,  no  doubt, 
to  bring  about  that  simpler  fashion  in  costumes  which  was  beginning 
to  be  adopted  towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  He 
rebelled  against  the  exaggerations  and  absurdities  of  society  both  in 
its  costumes  and  its  method  of  dressing  the  liair,  and  whenever  he 
could  do  so  he  induced  his  fair  sitters  to  be  painted  in  garments  of  his 
own  devising,  and  with  the  hair  curling  naturally  on  each  side  of  the 
neck.  On  his  journey  through  Italy  he  was  not  only  delighted  with 
the  dances  but  also  with  the  dresses  of  the  country  women  he  saw  in 
the  streets.  In  particular,  he  approved  of  their  habit  of  wearing  no 
stays,  which,  as  already  noted,  he  considered  '  gave  a  lightness  and 
flexibility  to  their  bodies  and  limbs,  and  a  variety  and  grace  to  their 
action,  which  were  exceedingly  pleasing.'  With  his  acute  sense  of 
grace  both  in  line  and  movement  he  was  naturally  severe  in  his 
condemnation  of  the  stiff,  long-waisted  armour  in  which  the  fashion- 
able dames  who  came  to  his  studio  were  buckled,  and,  whenever  he 
could  prevail  upon  them  to  make  the  sacrifice,  he  discarded  it. 

This  search  after  simplicity  he  carried  still  further  in  his  choice  of 
pure  white,  or  some  single,  subdued  colour,  or  even  black,  for  the 
dress,  only  relieved  by  a  brighter  touch  in  hair-ribbon  or  waist-belt. 
Probably  many  of  these  ladies  only  sat  to  him  for  the  head  and  hands, 
and,  though  consenting  to  be  represented  in  a  costume  displaying 
much  of  the  severity  of  ancient  Greece,  did  not  go  to  the  length  of 
actually  putting  on  anything  which  betrayed  so  painful  a  departure 
from  the  fashion  of  the  moment.  The  figure,  therefore,  he  often 
painted  from  a  lay-model  draped  in  the  style  he  considered  to  be  the 
most  pictorially  fitting. 
.340 


XXVII 


IN  all  that  he  attempted  outside  portraiture,  the  limitations  of  his 
art  become  much  more  apparent.  It  was  his  lifelong  ambition 
to  make  a  name  for  himself  as  a  painter  of  imaginative  and 
historical  subjects.  In  his  letters  to  Hayley  he  speaks  constantly  of 
his  desire  to  abandon  what  he  called  the  drudgery  of  portrait-painting 
in  order  to  devote  his  whole  time  and  energy  to  the  nobler  pursuit  of 
ideal  art. 

His  courage  almost  always  failed  him,  however,  when  it  came  to 
the  point.  His  popularity  as  a  portrait  painter  was  so  great,  and  the 
demands  society  made  upon  him  for  that  purpose  were  so  insistent, 
that  he  never  summoned  enough  strength  of  mind  to  reduce  the 
number  of  his  sitters  to  any  great  extent  until  the  state  of  his  health 
obliged  him  to  abandon  so  lucrative  a  source  of  income.  Simple  in 
his  tastes,  and  modest  in  his  methods  of  living,  with  his  purse  always 
at  the  service  of  friends  and  relations  even  in  the  days  when  he  had 
difficulty  in  supplying  his  own  wants,  it  cannot  be  said  that  his  was  an 
avaricious  disposition  ;  but  he  was  obliged  to  think  of  the  present 
needs  and  future  comfort  of  his  family,  and  he  had  at  least  one 
expensive  hobby,  his  collection  of  fine  casts  and  sculptures,  while  his 
building  operations  at  Hampstead  cost  him  large  sums  of  money,  so 
that  he  never  had,  at  any  given  time,  the  courage  to  turn  his  back 
finally  upon  the  only  source  of  income  which  was  both  adequate  and 
assured.  It  is  difficult  to  blame  him  for  this  inability  to  relinquish 
the  one  form  of  his  art  which  was  in  request ;  for  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  there  was  little  demand  from  English  painters  among  con- 
noisseurs in  his  day  for  anything  but  portraits.  Rich  collectors  went 
to  the  Continent  for  their  pictures,  and  Italian  and  Dutch  '  old 
masters '  were  all  the  rage,  the  attempts  of  Englishmen  in  such  fields 
being  little  regarded.  Few  English  historical  painters  had  the  success 
of  Benjamin  West,  and  he  owed  most  of  it  to  the  patronage  of  royalty, 
in  whose  footsteps  there  is  always  a  numerous  crowd  only  too  willing 
to  follow.      The  landscape  painters  suffered  equally  from  want  of 

347 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


patronage.  Richard  Wilson  was  in  difficulties  for  the  greater  part  of 
his  life,  and  Gainsborough's  studio  and  house-passages  were  crowded 
with  his  unsold  landscapes,  which  nine  out  of  every  ten  of  his  sitters 
never  even  glanced  at  in  passing.  Gainsborough  resembled  Romney 
in  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  expressing,  in  language  of  some  violence, 
his  contempt  for  portrait-painting,  and  his  desire  to  abandon  it  for  a 
combination  of  landscape  and  music.  His  landscapes,  however,  almost 
unregarded  in  his  day,  except  by  his  fellow-artists,  have  since  then 
gained  so  full  an  appreciation  that  certain  of  his  admirers  place  them 
on  a  higher  level  than  his  portraits.  Not  so  has  it  been  with  Romney. 
If  his  reputation  rested  upon  his  imaginative  canvases  alone,  his  place 
in  the  roll  of  great  painters  would  be  much  lower  than  the  one  most 
often  given  to  him.  Such  of  them  as  have  survived  are  seldom 
regarded  with  much  enthusiasm  by  modern  critics,  who  have  good 
reasons  for  their  opinion. 

His  brain  was  always  filled  with  visions  of  the  great  pictures  it  was 
his  purpose  to  paint.  His  imagination  was  easily  stimulated,  so  that 
whatever  book  he  happened  to  take  up  produced  a  crowd  of  pictorial 
ideas  which  he  burned  to  set  upon  canvas  without  delay.  In  this  way, 
Shakespeare  and  Milton  were  perpetual  sources  of  inspiration  to  him ; 
and  he  was  always  delighted  to  receive  ideas  for  pictures  from  Hayley 
and  other  friends  which  their  reading  had  suggested  to  them. 

Unhappily  his  imagination,  untrained  and  so  under  no  restraint, 
though  so  quickly  set  on  fire,  was  apt  to  die  away  with  equal  rapidity, 
and  the  great  picture  upon  which  he  had  started  with  such  determina- 
tion and  high  enthusiasm  was  in  almost  every  case  sooner  or  later  put 
on  one  side,  either  half  finished  or  only  just  begun.  Fickleness  of 
inspiration  was  not  the  only  cause  of  this  failure  to  complete  his  work. 
Sometimes  the  difficulties  of  composition  or  draughtsmanship  proved 
insuperable  to  one  whose  early  training  had  been  so  inadequate,  but 
whose  ideals  of  art  were  so  lofty  that  he  would  give  nothing  to  the 
world  that  did  not  come  up  to  his  own  high  standard ;  at  others,  the 
absence  of  a  suitable  model  just  at  the  moment  it  was  wanted  was  the 
cause ;  while  not  infrequently  that  which  was  rapidly  becoming  a  mere 
task  was  pushed  on  one  side  to  give  place  to  a  fresher  vision,  which 
seized  him  to  the  exclusion  of  all  else,  and  to  which  he  felt  he  must 
give  immediate  expression. 

Want  of  time  was  the  common  excuse  he  made  both  to  himself 
and  to  his  friends  for  the  stacks  of  unfinished  canvases  which  gradually 
accumulated,  and  finally  blocked  up  his  house  and  studio ;  but  had  he 
348 


UNFINISHED  IMAGINATIVE  PICTURES 


possessed  the  power  of  keeping  his  imagination  at  its  first  white  heat, 
and  the  necessary  knowledge  which  would  have  enabled  him  to  carry 
out  his  ideas  without  undue  and  harassing  labour  or  the  fear  of  failure 
always  before  his  eyes,  this  excuse  of  lack  of  opportunity  would  have 
been  much  less  frequent.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  was  never  idle,  but 
snatched  at  every  chance  of  carrying  forward  some  great  undertaking. 
If  a  sitter  failed  him,  he  rejoiced  in  the  opportunity  it  gave  him  of 
working  upon  some  such  picture,  and  many  an  hour  that  rightly  should 
have  been  used  for  finishing  portraits,  which  were  apt  to  accumulate 
in  much  the  same  manner  as  his  imaginative  works,  was  spent  in  this 
way  to  little  practical  purpose.  The  hours  of  the  evening,  which 
should  have  been  given  up  to  recreation,  were  devoted  to  the  making 
of  charcoal  designs  by  lamplight,  to  the  serious  injury  of  his  health. 
There  was  rarely  a  concentrated  or  prolonged  attempt,  however,  to 
complete  a  picture  from  such  designs  ;  the  very  last  idea  that  his  brain 
had  conceived,  or  that  one  of  his  friends  had  suggested  to  him,  was  the 
one  to  which  he  turned,  and  he  was  never  happier  than  when  covering 
a  clean  canvas  with  some  fresh  fancy,  which  he  fondly  hoped,  and,  at 
the  time  fully  intended,  would  be  carried  eventually  to  artistic 
completion,  and  bring  an  increase  to  his  reputation.  It  was,  in  its 
way,  a  manner  of  day-dreaming,  such  as  marks  the  irresolute  man, 
filling  his  brain  with  noble  dreams  and  fair  visions,  which  he  is  unable 
to  translate  into  concrete  form  before  their  loveliness  has  faded- 
melodies  that  are  sweeter  because  no  mortal  ear  may  hear  them,  and 
pictures  that  are  more  fair  because  no  eye  may  see  their  glow  of 
colour,  and  the  beauty  and  delicacy  of  form  in  which  the  imagination 
clothes  them. 

No  one,  as  this  '  life  '  has  endeavoured  to  show,  encouraged  him  more 
in  these  habits  than  his  dear  friend  Hayley,  who  was  constantly 
egging  him  on  to  attempt  fresh  masterpieces.  During  his  annual 
holiday  at  Eartham  every  inducement  was  set  before  him  to  attempt 
some  big  work  with  which  to  astonish  the  world  and  amaze  his 
rivals.  His  host,  an  omnivorous  reader,  was  fertile  in  ideas  for 
pictures,  both  from  his  own  compositions  and  from  the  masterpieces 
of  literature,  and  his  '  caro  pittore,'  not  strong  enough  to  resist  the 
atmosphere  of  adulation  with  which  he  was  surrounded  in  this 
Sussex  abode  of  the  mediocre  muse — where  he  was  usually  the  one  big 
artistic  fish  among  the  rhyming  minnows — was  always  delighted  to 
fall  in  with  his  plans,  carrying  with  them  as  they  did  the  subtle 
suggestion  that  he  was  the  one  artist  eminently  fitted  to  paint  them. 

349 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Unlike  Blake,  Romney  was  satisfied  that  Hayley's  pretensions  to  good 
taste  and  a  critical  appreciation  of  the  fine  arts  were  well  founded,  and 
he  not  only  gladly  availed  himself  of  his  ideas,  but  was  constantly 
asking  him  for  fresh  ones. 

In  this  way  the  '  Hermit  of  Eartham,'  quite  unwittingly,  was  a 
harmful  companion  to  the  artist,  whose  imagination  was  in  urgent 
need  of  restraint  rather  than  of  constant  excitement ;  and,  though 
always  solicitous  for  his  '  beloved  painter's '  health,  his  methods  of 
attaining  that  object  were  singularly  infelicitous,  so  that  the  annual 
holiday,  which  should  have  been  a  period  of  complete  rest  if  Romney 
were  to  recover  from  the  effects  of  the  overwork  of  the  previous  ten 
months,  became  instead  a  time  when  his  brain  and  hand  were  more 
busily  engaged  than  ever. 

One  of  the  chief  consequences  of  this  ever-increasing  stock  of 
studies  for  imaginative  subjects  was  that  Romney  left  but  few  finished 
works  of  this  class  behind  him — few,  that  is  to  say,  in  comparison 
with  the  hundreds  of  his  uncompleted  designs  ;  and  even  the  best  of 
these  display  the  limitations  of  his  art  much  more  clearly  than  his 
portraits,  in  which  such  limitations  are  more  easily  disguised  than  in 
more  ambitious  pictures,  where  a  wider  knowledge  of  the  principles 
underlying  all  good  composition,  and  a  surer  power  of  draughtsman- 
ship of  the  human  figure  are  necessary  before  complete  success  can 
be  attained.  It  was  only  when  there  was  a  special  spur  to  his  ambi- 
tion, causing  him  to  concentrate  his  efforts  and  to  stiffen  his  deter- 
mination, such  as  was  supplied  by  Boydell  with  his  scheme  for  a 
Shakespeare  Gallery,  or  the  presence  of  so  compelling  a  beauty 
and  so  inspiring  a  model  as  his  '  divine  lady,'  that  he  was  able  to 
carry  such  work  through  to  an  end,  and  then  only  after  prolonged 
labour  and  many  weary  months  of  despondency  and  premonitions  of 
failure. 

There  is  much  truth  in  Cunningham's  opinion  that  '  More  seems 
to  have  been  wanting  than  patronage ;  I  cannot  help  suspecting  that 
the  painter  was  deficient  in  that  creative  power  which  enables  men 
of  the  highest  rank  of  genius  to  body  forth  their  groups  in  imagina- 
tion, and  co mpletely  fix  them  before  the  mind's  eye,  even  as  a  living 
person  sits  for  a  portrait.  He  seems,  at  least,  to  have  yielded  too 
much  to  the  impulse  of  the  moment — he  was  ever  ready  to  begin 
a  new  subject,  but  exceedingly  loath  to  finish  an  old  one;  and  we 
are  left  to  lament  that  so  many  conceptions  of  a  high  order  are  left 
in  the  crude  elements  of  the  art.' 
350 


PLATE  LXlll 


PLATE  I.X1V 


THE   'TEMPEST'  PICTURE 

His  earliest  '  fancy  '  and  historical  compositions,  several  of  which 
were  taken  from  Sterne's  great  novel,  have,  in  most  cases,  disappeared, 
so  that  it  is  impossible  to  speak  with  any  certainty  of  their  excel- 
lences or  defects.  The  only  one  of  the  '  Shandean  pieces  '  of  which 
we  have  an  available  record  is  the  '  Dr.  Slop  entering  Mr.  Shandy's 
Parlour,'  indifferently  engraved  for  Hayley's  book,  the  qualities  of 
which  have  been  already  pointed  out.  Other  compositions  of  the 
period,  and  of  his  first  years  in  London,  such  as  two  scenes  from  King 
Lear,  '  Elfrida,'  and  '  The  Death  of  General  Wolfe  ' — which  caused 
so  much  commotion  when  it  was  sent  in  1763  to  compete  for  the 
premiums  offered  by  the  Society  of  Arts — have  been  mentioned  earlier 
in  these  pages.  The  present  ownership  of  most  of  them  cannot  be 
traced.  '  The  Death  of  Wolfe '  is  no  longer  hanging  on  the  walls  of 
the  Council  Chamber  in  Calcutta,  where  Governor  Verelst  placed  it ; 
it  has  disappeared,  and  so  far  no  record  of  its  later  history  has  been 
found.  His  unfinished  picture  of  '  Samson  and  Delilah,'  exhibited  in 
1764,  has  likewise  vanished,  and  Romney  himself  destroyed  his  second 
big  historical  work,  '  The  Death  of  King  Edmund,'  for  lack  of  a 
customer  or  of  house-room  in  which  to  keep  it.  A  third  canvas  of 
size,  depicting  the  '  Murder  of  Rizzio,'  which  he  began  as  soon  as 
he  had  settled  in  London,  must  to-day  be  regarded  as  another  of 
Romney 's  lost  works.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible  to  judge  of  what 
he  was  capable  outside  portraiture  before  his  art  had  reached  its 
maturity. 

The  most  important  canvas  of  his  middle  age,  the  shipwreck  scene 
from  the  Tempest,  for  Boy  dell's  Gallery,  which  is  now  in  the  Mere 
Hall  Museum  at  Bolton,  occupied  much  of  his  time  for  several  years 
and  caused  him  infinite  anxiety;  and  when  it  was  finished  it  was  by 
no  means  a  complete  success,  in  spite  of  the  labour  he  had  bestowed 
on  it.  It  is  clumsy  and  awkward  in  composition,  the  group  of 
crowded  figures  in  the  boat  on  the  left  having  no  artistic  relation  to 
that  of  Prospero  and  Miranda  on  the  other  side  of  the  picture. 
There  is  no  coherency  about  the  design  as  a  whole,  and  the  smaller 
figures  of  the  mariners  in  their  impossible  ship  appear  just  as  near 
to  the  spectator  as  the  magician  and  his  daughter.  These  latter  are 
disproportionately  tall,  a  not  infrequent  failing  with  Romney  in 
drawing  the  full-length  figure.  Certain  passages  of  the  composition 
have  great  beauty,  notably  the  head  of  Miranda,  drawn  from  Lady 
Hamilton.  The  company  on  board  the  ship  display  most  exaggerated 
emotions  of  fear  and  despair,  by  means  of  which  the  painter  strove 

351 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


to  picture  Shakespeare's  very  words.  The  general  lack  of  unity, 
however,  is  such  that  the  picture  does  not  entirely  convince  or  please. 
It  leaves  one  cold  and  unaffected  by  the  fury  of  the  tempest  he 
has  striven  so  hard  to  depict.    (See  Plate  xv.) 

John  Romney  points  out  one  of  the  causes  of  failure  in  the 
composition  of  this  large  canvas.  '  Before  a  Shakspeare  Gallery  was 
ever  thought  of,'  he  writes,  '  except  by  himself  (as  I  have  already 
mentioned)  Mr.  Romney  had  begun  a  picture  representing  Prospero, 
Miranda,  and  Caliban ;  and  in  the  background,  a  shipwreck.  I  have 
the  original  sketch  now  in  my  possession,  and  it  is  in  every  respect 
satisfactory  as  a  composition ;  but  after  the  scheme  had  been  embraced 
by  the  Boydells,  some  officious  individual  suggested  to  Mr.  Romney 
that  this  picture  would  not  be  regarded  by  the  critics  as  an  historical 
composition,  as  it  consisted  of  only  three  figures  not  sufficiently  com- 
bined. The  consequence  was,  as  might  have  been  expected  from  a 
man  of  his  diffident  mind,  that  the  canvass  was  diminished  on  the  right 
so  as  to  exclude  Caliban,  and  enlarged  on  the  left  so  as  to  allow  the 
shipwreck  to  be  advanced  to  the  foreground.  By  this  alteration  he 
endeavoured  to  unite  two  principal  actions,  which  were  essentially 
distinct,  though  referring  to  one  another— an  anomaly  in  composition, 
which  nothing  could  justify  but  the  supposed  supernatural  agency  of 
Prospero.  The  result  was,  that  what  he  had  intended  to  have 
effected  with  a  little  additional  labour,  proved  to  be  a  source  of  endless 
toil — a  struggle  with  impossibilities  ;  and  he  could  have  painted  three 
historical  pictures  on  any  other  subjects,  in  less  time,  and  with  less 
effort.  It,  however,  contains  in  an  eminent  degree,  all  the  other  great 
essentials  of  an  historical  picture — spirited  action,  correct  delineation, 
character,  and  expression.  It  is  also  rich  in  colouring,  without  being 
overcharged  with  gums  and  varnishes :  and  the  general  effect  is 
imposing  and  grand.' 

His  '  Infant  Shakespeare  attended  by  Nature  and  the  Passions  ' 1 
is  one  of  those  fantastic  dreams  such  as  Fuseli  loved  to  paint.  Here, 
again,  the  exaggerated  facial  expressions  destroy  their  own  purpose, 
for  it  is  impossible  without  the  written  word  which  accompanied  it  in 
Boydell's  catalogue  to  affix  the  proper  title  to  each  of  these  contorted 
countenances,  while  the  naked  babe,  who  remains  quite  unmoved  in  the 
midst  of  this  nightmare  of  the  passions,  is  almost  am  using  in  his  stolidity. 

John  Romney  compares  this  picture  with  Sir  Joshua's  '  Death  of 
Cardinal  Beaufort,'  greatly,  as  might  be  expected,  to  the  disadvantage 

1  See  page  170. 

352 


SHAKESPEAREAN  AND   CLASSICAL  SUBJECTS 


of  the  latter,  and  claims  for  it  much  higher  qualities,  as  one  of  the 
most  poetical  of  his  father's  works,  than  it  possesses.  '  It  bears  a 
strong  resemblance  to  Collins'  Ode  to  the  Passions,  as  a  work  of  pure 
imagination ;  but  as  a  work  of  art,  it  may  be  compared  to  the  best  of 
Correggio's  pictures.  What  can  be  more  tender  and  delicate  in 
colouring,  what  more  graceful  and  fascinating  in  design,  than  Joy 
and  the  Baby  Shakespeare  ?  What  more  sweet  and  lovely  than  the 
representation  of  Virtuous  Love  ?  In  chiaroscuro,  and  in  the 
disposition  of  the  figures,  there  is  much  also  of  the  manner  of 
Correggio.  Ever  since  this  picture  was  sold  at  the  Shakspeare 
Gallery — and  it  was  sold  for  a  very  inadequate  sum,  but  to  whom 
I  do  not  know — I  have  regretted  its  loss.  Unfortunately  I  was  not 
there ;  but  wherever  it  is,  if  it  exist  at  all,  I  deem  it  well  worth  five 
hundred  guineas.  I  wish  it  was  in  the  National  Gallery,  the  only 
proper  repository  for  such  a  picture.' 

'  The  Infant  Shakespeare  nursed  by  Tragedy  and  Comedy  '*  is  more 
successful,  but  even  here  the  drawing  is  far  from  faultless  and  the 
arrangement  lacks  something  of  Romney's  usual  grace,  though  the 
infant  with  its  serious  air,  receiving  its  first  lesson  on  the  pipe  of  poesy, 
is  one  of  his  most  delightful  studies  of  child  life  (see  Plate  xvn.).  The 
'  Titania,  Puck,  and  the  Changeling,' 2  on  the  seashore,  though  ugly  in 
arrangement  and  unsatisfactory  as  to  the  figure  of  Titania — said,  like 
the  '  Comedy,'  to  be  a  portrait  of  Lady  Hamilton — is  admirable  in  its 
expression  of  malicious  fun,  and  in  the  natural  attitude  of  the  naked 
child  lying  on  its  back  on  the  ground,  with  legs  upstretched  in  the  air. 

His  single-figure  subjects  in  the  classical  vein,  such  as  the 
'Cassandra,'  or  the  'Circe,'  which  were  almost  always  painted  from 
the  fair  Emma,  are  little  more  than  idealised  portraits  ;  and  whenever 
he  attempts  in  them  the  expression  of  strong  emotion  the  result  is 
often  curiously  ineffectual.  There  is  a  suggestion  of  insincerity  and 
a  somewhat  theatrical  posing  which  even  the  beauty  of  the  figure  and 
the  skilful  draughtsmanship  fail  to  disguise — a  suggestion  which  is 
much  fainter,  and  often  entirely  absent,  when  he  painted  the  same 
lady  merely  as  Emma  Hart  in  some  joyous  or  contemplative  mood. 
Neither  of  these  pictures  can  be  placed  among  his  happiest  renderings 
of  Lady  Hamilton  ;  while  the  '  Alope,'  which  he  has  conceived  in  his 
best  '  classical  manner,'  is  little  more  than  a  pale  and  weak  reflection 
of  an  incident  of  singular  dramatic  intensitv.  It  is  true  that  Alope 
clasps  her  infant  to  her,  and  that  some  slight  alarm  is  expressed  upon 

1  See  page  170.  2  See  page  191. 

G.  r-23  353 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


her  fair  features,  but  in  spite  of  the  near  approach  of  the  lions,  she 
makes  no  attempt  to  arise  from  her  graceful,  recumbent  attitude. 

The  few  pictures  he  finished  with  subjects  taken  from  actual 
history,  such  as  '  Milton  and  his  Daughters,'  and  '  Newton  experiment- 
ing with  the  Prism,'  though  highly  praised  by  his  friends  at  the  time 
of  their  painting,  must  be  placed  on  the  same  level  as  his  classical  and 
Shakespearean  works.  It  is  not,  perhaps,  quite  fair  to  criticise  the 
*  Newton,'  as  towards  the  end  of  his  life  he  strove,  with  failing  brush, 
to  alter  one  of  the  heads,  an  attempt  attended  by  disastrous  results ; 
but,  beyond  a  certain  grace  in  some  of  the  figures,  and  some  fine 
passages  of  painting,  they  possess  little  or  nothing  to  place  them  above 
similar  work  done  by  a  number  of  his  contemporaries,  who  in 
portraiture  could  not  approach  him. 

It  is  different  when  his  unfinished  studies,  sketches,  and  designs 
come  under  consideration.  A  great  number  of  the  more  important  of 
these  are  preserved  in  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum,  Cambridge,  and  in 
the  Liverpool  Royal  Institution. 

In  many  of  them  the  very  delicate  play  of  his  fancy  finds  delightful 
expression,  and  his  pencil  revels  in  the  ideas  suggested  by  his  favourite 
poets  and  dramatists.  As  beginnings  of  pictures  they  are  often  full 
of  poetic  suggestion,  and  have  a  freedom  and  freshness  of  design 
which  were  apt  to  become  weakened  when  an  attempt  was  made  to 
carry  them  further.  The  unfinished  oil  study,  illustrated  in  this 
volume,  of  '  Children  in  a  Boat,'  drifting  out  to  sea,  while  the  terrified 
nurse  or  mother  kneels  helpless  on  the  shore,  is  an  exceptionally  fine 
example  both  of  his  imaginative  powers  and  his  mastery  in  the  rapid 
use  of  the  brush.  This  study  shows  the  tenderest  feeling,  and  a 
breadth  and  spontaneity  of  handling  in  its  rendering  of  the  small 
nude  figures,  each  one  evidently  studied  from  the  model  which  served 
him  for  his  infant  Shakespeare  ;  and  in  all  probability  it  remained 
in  its  unfinished  state  on  account  of  the  death  of  the  baby-model,  of 
which  mention  is  made  in  John  Romney's  memoir.   (See  Plate  lxiii.) 

There  are  two  other  and  slighter  studies  for  this  unpainted  picture 
at  Cambridge  which  display  an  equal  animation  and  freshness  in  the 
handling.  In  No.  83  the  figure  of  the  terrified  nurse  is  even  more 
expressive  and  dramatic  than  in  Mr.  Tankerville  Chamberlayne's 
version.  Only  three  boys  are  shown  in  the  boat,  while  in  No.  84,  a 
study  in  brown  and  black,  there  are  five. 

In  any  review  of  Romney's  work  as  a  designer,  a  prominent  place 
must  be  given  to  the  eighteen  cartoons  which  were  presented  to  the 
354 


PLATE  I.XV 


PLATE  LXVI 


THE  CARTOONS  AT  LIVERPOOL 


Liverpool  Royal  Institution  in  1823  by  the  Rev.  John  Romney, 
through  his  friendship  with  its  President,  William  Roscoe.  These 
designs,  which  are  still  hanging  in  the  rooms  of  the  Society,  where 
they  can  be  seen  by  any  one  interested  in  Romney's  art,  are  in  black 
chalk,  and  have  been  carried  to  a  high  degree  of  finish  by  the  painter, 
so  that  they  may  be  regarded  as  complete  in  themselves,  embodying 
all  he  wished  to  express  almost  as  well  as  though  he  had  added  to 
them  the  final  grace  of  colour.  In  them  his  skill  in  arrangement  and 
his  power  of  expression  reach  the  highest  manifestation  of  which  he 
was  capable,  and  nothing  that  he  did  afterwards,  outside  portraiture, 
approached  them  in  purity  of  design,  excellence  and  simplicity  of 
composition,  and  good  and  careful  draughtsmanship. 

The  greater  number  of  them  were  produced  during  the  first  few 
years  after  his  return  from  Italy,  when  the  spell  cast  upon  him  by  the 
great  Italian  masters,  and  of  the  sculptured  art  of  the  ancient  Greeks, 
was  still  at  its  freshest  and  strongest.  In  these  cartoons  he  embodied 
the  best  of  what  he  had  learnt  from  such  sources  before  the  fires  of 
his  inspiration  began  to  burn  low,  and  while  his  imagination  still 
glowed  with  the  recollection  of  them.  He  had  come  under  their 
influence  too  late  in  life,  perhaps,  to  enable  him  to  realise  his  unceasing 
ambition  of  becoming  a  great  historical  painter,  but  not  too  late  to 
learn  from  them  something  of  the  spirit  which  had  inspired  them,  and 
to  infuse  into  his  own  art  at  least  a  pale  reflection  of  their  glories. 

The  earliest  of  them  in  point  of  date  are  the  seven 1  cartoons 
illustrating  the  tale  of  Cupid  and  Psyche,  which,  according  to  Hayley's 
narrative,  were  all  designed  in  1776.  '  In  the  first  years  of  my  intimacy 
with  Romney,'  he  says,  '  we  formed  many  social  projects  of  uniting 
poetry  and  design,  in  works,  that  were  never  accomplished.  Of  some 
my  recollection  can  discover  no  distinct  vestiges  ;  of  others  but  a  few 
trivial  remains.  I  find  however  some  verses,  which  remind  me  that 
we  talked  of  producing  a  joint  work  on  the  adventures  of  Cupid  and 
Psyche,  from  Apuleius.  On  this  idea  my  friend  drew  no  less  than 
eight  elegant  cartoons  in  black  chalk :  I  meant  to  finish  a  poem  on  the 
subject  in  emulation  of  Dryden's  delightful  fables,  but  if  my  memory- 
does  not  deceive  me,  I  speedily  threw  it  aside  for  the  sake  of  devoting 
my  attention  to  a  work,  that  I  hoped  to  render  more  conducive  to  the 
professional  honor  of  my  friend — I  mean  my  Epistles  to  Romney, 
written  in  1777,  and  first  printed  in  the  following  year.' 

This  quotation  is  only  one  of  many  similar  ones  in  the  '  Life '  which 

1  The  eighth  is  missing. 

355 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


show  Hayley,  with  none  but  the  best  of  intentions  and  every  desire  to 
help  his  friend,  in  the  guise  of  the  foolish  counsellor.  If  only,  after 
inciting  the  imagination  of  the  painter  to  such  fine  efforts  as  these 
cartoons  bear  witness,  he  had  finished  his  own  share  of  the  work,  and 
by  means  of  example  had  kept  Romney's  fickle  fancy  enchained  for 
a  period  long  enough  to  produce  something  of  adequate  accomplishment 
in  the  way  of  a  series  of  completed  pictures,  instead  of  turning  to  the 
manufacture  of  hundreds  of  dull  and  laborious  verses  in  his  praise,  he 
would  have  served  him  to  far  better  purpose. 

Several  of  the  '  Cupid  and  Psyche '  designs  are  studies  of  a  single 
figure.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  is  the  first  (No.  153)  in  which  Psyche 
is  shown  reclining  at  full  length  in  a  landscape,  her  left  elbow  resting 
on  a  block  of  stone,  and  the  hand  supporting  her  head,  which  is  turned 
to  the  right,  in  profile.  She  is  clad  in  flowing  draperies,  gracefully 
designed.  The  head  of  the  gentle  Zephyr,  who  has  borne  her  to 
Cupid's  enchanted  kingdom,  is  seen  across  some  reeds  to  the  left,  and 
the  background  is  of  trees,  with  dark  clouds  overhead.  '  The  mild 
breeze  of  the  gently-blowing  Zephyr  played  round  her  garments, 
fluttering  and  gradually  expanding  them  till  they  lifted  her  up,  and 
the  god,  wafting  her  with  his  tranquil  breath  adown  the  lofty  mountain 
side,  laid  her  softly  on  the  flowery  turf  in  the  lap  of  the  valley. 
Psyche,  therefore,  delightfully  reclining  in  this  pleasant  and  grassy 
spot,  upon  a  bed  of  dewy  herbage,  felt  her  extreme  agitation  of  mind 
allayed,  and  sank  into  a  sweet  sleep,  from  which  she  awoke  refreshed 
in  body,  and  with  a  mind  more  composed.'  (See  Plate  lxiv.)  In  No. 
154  she  is  shown  in  a  very  similar  attitude,  but  facing  to  the  right, 
leaning  on  her  elbow,  an  almost  nude  figure,  with  slight  transparent 
draperies  and  bosom  bare.  This  thin  veil  covers  her  head,  and  is  held 
away  from  her  face  with  the  right  hand.  Above  a  high  wall  of  rough 
stone  at  her  back  Cupid's  head  and  arms  are  seen.  He  is  watching 
her,  and  from  the  expression  of  her  face  she  is  growing  conscious  of 
his  invisible  presence.  On  the  left  is  Cupid's  'kingly  palace.'  'She 
then  espied  a  grove,  thick  planted  with  vast  and  lofty  trees;  she 
likewise  saw  a  fountain  in  the  middle  of  the  grove,  with  water  limpid 
as  crystal.  Near  the  fall  of  the  fountain  there  was  a  kingly  palace, 
not  raised  by  human  hands,  but  by  divine  skill.'  This  is  one  of 
Romney's  most  successful  figure  studies.  (See  Plate  lxv.)  In  the 
next  picture  (No.  155)  she  is  seated  on  the  ground,  her  left  elbow  on  a 
stone  much  in  the  same  attitude  as  in  No.  153,  with  her  left  hand 
pressed  to  her  breast,  and  the  other  stretched  out  to  touch  the  hand 
356 


THE    CUPID  AND   PSYCHE'  SEEIES 


of  Cupid,  who  kneels  at  her  feet,  a  nude  figure  with  great  wings. 
Both  faces  are  in  profile,  Psyche  looking  down  with  an  expression 
of  shrinking  modesty  which  is  a  little  exaggerated. 

In  No.  156,  Psyche,  abandoned  by  Cupid  as  a  result  of  her  curiosity, 
is  kneeling  on  the  right  before  a  small  altar  in  Juno's  temple,  while 
before  her,  on  the  other  side  of  the  canvas,  the  goddess  whose  aid  she 
is  seeking  appears  in  answer  to  her  prayer,  with  arms  outstretched,  and 
covered  from  head  to  foot  in  long  draperies.  In  the  next,  No.  157, 
Venus  stands  in  the  centre,  a  full-length  nude  figure,  with  her  veil  cast 
back  and  hanging  from  her  arms,  looking  down  scornfully  at  the 
unhappy  Psyche  who  kneels  at  her  feet,  with  downcast  head,  and 
hands  held  out  in  fear  and  supplication.  On  the  left  is  shown  a  part 
of  the  goddess's  chariot,  with  her  doves  upon  it.  In  No.  158,  Psyche 
is  once  more  shown  as  a  kneeling  figure,  clasping  a  small  amphora  in 
her  arms,  and  looking  up  at  the  goddess,  in  flying  draperies  and  bare 
breast,  who  is  pointing  with  her  right  arm  towards  a  mountain  peak 
amid  the  clouds.  Venus  is  about  to  despatch  her  upon  the  third  of  the 
difficult  tasks  she  devised  for  her  overthrow.  '  "  Do  you  see  the  summit 
of  yonder  lofty  mountain  ?  From  that  peak  fall  the  dusky  waters  of 
a  black  fountain,  which,  after  being  confined  in  the  neighbouring  valley, 
irrigate  the  Stygian  marshes,  and  supply  the  hoarse  streams  of  Cocytus  ? 
Bring  me  immediately  in  this  little  urn,  ice-cold  water  drawn  from  the 
very  midst  of  the  lofty  fountain."  Thus  speaking,  she  gave  her  a  vessel 
of  polished  crystal,  and  at  the  same  time  threatened  her  more  severely 
than  before.'  In  this  cartoon  both  heads  have  great  sweetness  of  feature 
and  charm  of  expression.  (See  Plate  lxvi.)  In  the  last  of  the  series, 
which,  again,  is  a  very  fine  one,  the  unhappy  maiden  is  shown  passing 
through  a  wild  and  stormy  landscape,  with  terror  in  her  face,  and  bare 
feet  and  arms,  holding  clasped  to  her  breast  the  small  round  box  with 
which  she  is  to  penetrate  to  the  depths  of  Hades,  at  the  command  of 
the  angry  goddess,  and  bring  back  within  it  some  of  Proserpine's  beauty. 
4  "  Take  this  box,"  she  said,  delivering  it  to  her,  "  and  direct  your 
course  to  the  infernal  regions  and  the  deadly  palace  of  Pluto.  Then 
presenting  the  box  to  Proserpine,  say,  Venus  requests  you  to  send 
her  a  small  portion  of  your  beauty,  at  least  as  much  as  may  be 
sufficient  for  one  short  day ;  for  she  has  consumed  all  the  beauty  she 
possessed,  through  the  attention  which  she  pays  to  her  sick  son.  But 
return  with  the  utmost  expedition  ;  for  I  must  adorn  myself  with  this 
beauty  of  Proserpine,  before  I  go  to  the  theatre  of  the  gods." ' 

There  are  several  slight  sketches  for  this  series  at  Cambridge. 

357 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


John  Romney,  in  the  list  he  prints  of  the  cartoons  he  presented  to  the 
Royal  Institution,  speaks  of  eight  on  the  subject  of  Cupid  and  Psyche 
and  two  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  but  this  is  not  correct.  There  are 
only  seven  of  the  former,  while  there  are  three  of  the  latter.  He  has 
mistaken  the  single-figure  design  of  Eurydice  fleeing  from  Aristaeus, 
the  first  on  his  list,  for  one  of  Psyche.  The  title  is  given  correctly  on 
the  present  frame  of  the  cartoon.  The  mistake  was  a  natural  one,  for 
Hay  ley  speaks  of  '  eight  elegant  cartoons  in  black  chalk.'  The  eighth 
design,  which  is  now  missing,  was  in  all  probability  the  study  for  the 
only  one  of  the  series  which  Romney  carried  out  as  a  picture.  As 
already  related,  after  it  had  been  nearly  completed  it  was  put  aside, 
and  lost  for  many  years.  When  finally  discovered  among  a  heap  of 
unfinished  canvases,  it  was  given  to  William  Long,  who  himself  added 
some  drapery  to  it,  to  the  indignation  of  John  Romney,  who  accuses 
him  of  both  pride  and  presumption.  It  is  a  graceful  composition, 
displaying  better  drawing  of  the  nude  than  Romney  often  accomplished. 
The  two  are  seated  side  by  side  on  a  couch  with  a  blue  curtain  behind. 
Cupid  is  almost  nude,  his  face  seen  in  profile,  and  his  curling  hair 
bound  with  a  fillet.  His  left  arm  is  round  Psyche's  waist,  and  his 
right,  hanging  down,  holds  his  bow.  Psyche,  who  is  shown  full  face, 
with  downcast  eyes,  is  clothed  in  red  from  the  waist  to  the  feet 
(by  Long).  A  burning  lamp  is  upon  the  ground,  and  in  a  break  in  the 
clouds  on  the  right  the  gods  are  seen  seated  in  Olympus.  It  represents 
the  last  scene  in  the  story,  when  the  lovers  are  once  more  united.  It 
is  painted  on  a  canvas  50  in.  x  40  in.,  and  was  No.  167  in  the  Guildhall 
Exhibition,  1899,  to  which  it  was  lent  by  Lieut.-Colonel  Ellis.  It 
was  No.  12  in  the  sale  of  the  Vaile  Collection  at  Messrs.  Christie's,  on 
May  23rd,  1903,  when  it  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Sedelmeyer  for  £210. 
At  the  Sedelmeyer  sale  in  Paris,  in  May  1907,  it  fetched  5170 
francs. 

The  three  designs  from  the  story  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  which 
are  probably  of  almost  the  same  date  as  those  of  Cupid  and  Psyche, 
also  mark  a  high  level  of  attainment  on  the  part  of  Romney  in  imagi- 
native composition. 

The  first,  No.  150,  represents  Eurydice  with  bare  feet  and  arms,  her 
hair  flying  in  the  breeze,  looking  back  over  her  shoulder,  her  hands  held 
in  front  of  her  as  though  in  fear,  and  a  look  of  anguish  on  her  face. 
She  is  fleeing  from  Aristaeus,  the  son  of  Apollo  and  the  nymph  Cyrene, 
and  father  of  Actaeon,  who  fell  in  love  with  her,  and  pursued  her 
through  the  fields.  She  is  crossing  a  small  stream,  by  a  plank  almost 
358 


PLATE  LXV11 


EURYDICE  FLEEING  FROM  ARISTVEUS 

IN    I'HE  LIVERPOOL  ROYAL  INSTITU  TION 

Pages  35S-Q 


PLATE  LXl'IU 


THE  'ORPHEUS  AND   EURYDICE '  SERIES 


hidden  in  the  thick  growth  of  rushes,  not  seeing,  in  her  terror  of  her 
pursuer,  the  great  water-snake,  lurking  among  the  noisome  weeds  below, 
from  whose  bite  she  died.  Dark  trees  and  a  stormy  sky  fill  the  back- 
ground. (See  Plate  lxvii.)  There  is  a  rough,  bold  study  for  this  cartoon 
in  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum,  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland- 
Gower's  book,  to  which  he  has  given  the  incorrect  title  of  'Ophelia.' 

The  two  remaining  designs  represent  the  failure  of  Orpheus  to 
bring  back  his  wife  from  Hades,  through  his  eagerness  to  look  upon 
her  face  before  regaining  the  upper  regions  with  the  prize  he  had 
charmed  from  Pluto  by  the  melody  of  his  lyre.  They  are  among 
the  most  successful  of  all,  and  display  very  tender  feeling,  and 
imaginative  power  of  a  high  order.  The  first,  No.  151,  is  an  upright, 
in  which  Orpheus,  on  the  left,  clasps  Eurydice  in  ineffectual  arms.  She 
is  dragged  away  from  him  by  her  draperies,  the  violent  action  leaving 
her  bare  to  the  waist,  and  borne  aloft  by  flying  figures,  her  arms 
uplifted  in  a  passion  of  grief.  In  the  second  design,  No.  152,  the 
lovers  are  at  the  mouth  of  the  infernal  regions.  Eurydice,  a  most 
beautiful  and  graceful  figure,  again  bare  to  the  waist,  is  caught  away 
amid  clouds  by  the  dimly  seen  forms  of  the  Fates,  the  lower  part  of 
her  body  obscured  by  the  darkness  which  is  re-enfolding  her.  Her 
arms  are  stretched  out  in  despair  to  Orpheus,  another  finely  designed 
figure,  nude  but  for  a  waist-cloth  and  some  flying  drapery.  (See 
Plate  lxviii.)  Three  slight  sketches  for  this  subject  are  included 
among  the  Cambridge  studies.  Romney  also  began  a  picture  of  it  in 
oils,  which  was  destroyed  at  Hampstead. 

The  story  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  as  already  stated,  was  sug- 
gested to  Romney  by  Lord  Thurlow  when  sitting  for  his  portrait,  who 
translated  the  passage  from  Virgil  for  his  benefit,  and  added  many 
comments  of  his  own  as  to  the  way  in  which  the  picture  should  be 
painted.  In  the  third  cartoon  at  Liverpool  Romney  has  followed  as 
closely  as  possible  the  ideas  suggested  by  the  Lord  Chancellor's  annota- 
tions :  '  The  action  of  her  figure  is  still  speaking  to  Orpheus  ;  engrossed 
with  vehement  love,  and  the  agony  of  hopeless  grief;  and  vainly  stretch- 
ing forth  her  hands  to  him  for  relief  and  rescue ;  but  the  heaviness  of 
death  is  on  her  eyelids ;  her  eyes  maintain  that  unfixed  and  uncertain 
regard,  which  the  poet  calls  swimming  ;  her  lips  scarcely  open  enough  to 
convey  her  words  ;  her  almost  pendulous  arms  and  hands  are,  in  part, 
assisted  by  the  rolling  of  the  clouds  to  offer  themselves  to  her  rescue : 
her  head,  which  begins  to  sink  on  one  side,  by  the  same  means  seems 
to  preserve  the  posture  of  addressing  him  ;  the  rest  of  her  nerveless 

,'359 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


limbs,  just  lifted  from  the  ground,  appear  to  be  governed  and 
disposed  by  the  torrent  of  the  cloud,  which  is  bearing  her  off.' 

The  next  four  cartoons  were  inspired  by  the  English  translations 
of  iEschylus  and  Euripides  made  by  his  friend  Dr  Potter,  rector  of 
Seaming.  Romney  read  these  in  manuscript  as  well  as  after  publication, 
and,  says  his  son,  '  he  was  so  forcibly  impressed  by  the  boldness  and 
sublimity  of  the  subjects  selected  by  that  early  dramatist  (iEschylus), 
and  by  the  simple,  but  vigorous  manner  in  which  they  were  treated, 
that  he  called  him  the  painter  s  poet,  and  ranked  him  next  to 
Shakspeare  as  a  powerful  delineator  of  the  stronger  passions.'  These 
designs  were  composed  during  1780  and  1781.  The  'Prometheus,' 
No.  160,  is  the  least  important  example  in  the  Liverpool  collection, 
and  is  not  carried  so  nearly  to  completion  as  the  others. 

No.  161,  '  Atossa's  Dream,'  represents  the  night-vision  which  came 
to  Atossa,  the  wife  of  Darius,  king  of  the  Persians,  foreshadowing  the 
defeat  of  her  son  Xerxes  and  his  army  by  the  Greeks.  The  moment 
selected  by  the  artist  is  that  in  which  Xerxes  harnesses  to  his  chariot  the 
two  women  at  variance  with  each  other,  representing  the  Roman  Greeks 
and  the  Asiatic  Ionians,  one  of  whom  bends  willingly  to  the  yoke,  while 
the  other  rebels,  and  overturns  the  chariot,  by  the  side  of  which  Xerxes 
is  shown,  a  nude  figure,  prostrate  on  the  ground.  Both  women  are 
scantily  clad,  with  flying  draperies  about  them,  one  standing  with  her 
hands  upon  the  car,  and  the  other,  with  her  back  to  the  spectator, 
gazing  up  at  the  ghost  of  Darius,  who  comes  in  pity  of  his  son,  seen 
dimly  through  the  black  clouds  above.  John  Romney  points  out  that  in 
this  cartoon  his  father's  love  of  simplicity  has  '  betrayed  him  into  an  im- 
propriety. Asia,  instead  of  being  arrayed  in  gorgeous  apparel,  is  attired 
like  her  companion  Graecia.  Simplicity,  however,  is  a  charm  that  a 
painter  should  never  lose  sight  of ;  grace  can  hardly  subsist  without  it.' 
(See  Plate  lxix.) 

In  No.  162,  '  The  Ghost  of  Darius,'  the  spectre  of  the  aged 
king,  crowned,  with  long  white  beard,  and  head  and  shoulders 
covered  with  heavy  garments,  and  arms  outstretched,  is  seen  through 
the  smoke  rising  from  a  small  altar.  On  the  left  are  the  prostrate 
figures  of  three  of  the  Persain  elders,  whose  groans  and  entreaties  in 
this  hour  of  their  country's  dire  necessity  have  called  up  this  vision  of 
their  dead  king  from  his  sepulchre.  On  the  other  side  Atossa  stands, 
with  hands  stretched  in  front  of  her,  gazing  with  terror  at  the  sight. 

Flaxman's  opinions  as  to  the  merit  of  Romney 's  historical  composi- 
tions are  quoted  in  a  later  chapter.  He  looked  upon  these  cartoons  as 
360 


CLASSICAL  CARTOONS 


"  examples  of  the  sublime  and  terrible,'  and  with  regard  to  the  two  just 
described  he  says :  '  The  dream  of  Atossa,  from  the  Persians  of 
JSschylus,  contrasted  the  death-like  sleep  of  the  Queen,  with  the 
Bacchanalian  Fury  of  the  Genius  of  Greece.  The  composition  was 
conducted  with  the  fire  and  severity  of  a  Greek  bas-relief :  the  ghost 
of  Darius,  with  the  Persians  prostrated  before  him,  awed  the  spectator 
by  grandeur  and  mystery.' 

The  figure  of  '  Medea,'  No  163,  is  a  little  theatrical,  and  the  expres- 
sion of  the  face,  in  the  painter's  attempt  to  display  strong  and  con- 
flicting emotions,  is  exaggerated.  She  is  seated,  with  a  dagger  in  her 
hand,  looking  intently  at  the  two  children  she  is  about  to  kill,  who 
are  playing  together  quite  unconscious  of  their  coming  fate,  or  of 
the  two  snakes  which  are  to  be  seen  above  them  on  the  rocks.  This 
design  does  not  reach  to  that  sublimity  and  grandeur  which  the 
painter's  son  discovered  in  it.  '  Subjects  of  the  sublime,'  he  writes,  '  in 
which  the  powerful  passions  are  represented,  were,  I  think,  the  most 
congenial  to  Mr.  Romney's  mind.  He  had  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
effects  which  the  violent  emotions  of  the  mind  produce  upon  the 
features  of  the  face,  and  the  action  of  the  body ;  so  that  he  could 
impart  to  the  eye  a  language  almost  as  expressive  as  that  of  the  tongue, 
and  communicate  to  the  muscles  and  limbs  all  that  appropriate  action 
which  they  assume  according  to  the  impulses  of  the  different  passions ; 
he  could  represent  with  exact  discrimination  the  shades  by  which 
kindred  affections  differ  from  each  other,  and  even  depict  that  agony 
of  distress,  when  conflicting  passions  lacerate  the  tenderest  feelings  of 
the  heart — which  is  the  highest  effort  of  skill — the  acme  of  pictorial 
expression :  and  his  designs,  representing  the  struggle  between  dis- 
appointed love  and  maternal  affection  in  the  bosom  of  Medea,  so 
beautifully  described  in  the  epigram  on  the  picture  painted  by  Timo- 
machus — are  convincing  proof  of  his  ability  in  this  respect.  In  short,  if 
there  was  any  part  of  his  art  in  which  he  more  especially  excelled,  it 
was  in  expression,  which  is  the  soul  of  painting.  The  figure  of  Atossa, 
in  the  design  of  Darius's  Ghost  above  mentioned,  is  alone  sufficient  to 
illustrate  and  confirm  my  observations.  It  is  impossible  to  express 
more  in  so  few  strokes ;  they  are  full  of  mind  and  soul.  Fear  has 
deprived  the  muscles  of  their  firmness,  and  her  knees  seem  to  tremble 
beneath  her.  "  The  joints  of  her  loins  were  loosed,  and  her  knees  smote 
one  against  another. "  '  There  are  four  slighter  variations  of  the  '  Medea ' 
in  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum. 

The  three  Shakespearean  designs  are,  in  all  probability,  a  few  years 

361 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


later  in  date,  about  1786  or  1787,  when  Romney  had  begun  to  work 
upon  his  large  '  Tempest '  picture,  and  was  planning  many  other  subjects 
taken  from  the  poet  for  Boydell's  great  venture.  John  Romney  gives 
1791  as  about  the  date  of  the  completion  of '  The  Infant  Shakespeare 
nursed  by  Tragedy  and  Comedy,'  and  '  The  Infant  Shakespeare 
attended  by  Nature  and  the  Passions,'  but  various  designs  were  made 
for  them  some  years  earlier.  No.  164,  '  The  Birth  of  Shakespeare,' 
which  is  a  first  idea  for  the  last-named  picture,  is  an  upright,  in  the 
centre  of  which  the  infant  is  asleep  in  a  round  basket  or  cradle. 
Behind  him  stands  Nature  uplifting  the  great  cloak  which  veils  her, 
with  much  the  same  action  as  in  the  finished  picture  engraved  by 
Benjamin  Smith.  On  the  left,  a  kneeling  girl  bare  to  the  waist,  pro- 
bably representing  Comedy,  is  lifting  the  veil  from  the  child,  while  on 
the  right  Tragedy  stands  holding  up  a  small  dish,  with  her  draperies 
falling  away  from  her  left  shoulder.  No.  165,  4  The  Infant  Shake- 
speare,'is  a  version  of  the  'Nursing'  picture,  engraved  by  Caroline 
Watson  for  Hayley's  book,  which  now  belongs  to  Mr.  Tankerville 
Chamberlayne.  In  the  Liverpool  cartoon  Comedy  is  reclining  on  the 
right  with  her  arms  round  the  child's  waist,  smiling  down  upon  him. 
Tragedy,  kneeling  on  the  left,  leans  over  him  and  clasps  his  right  hand 
with  both  of  hers,  while  he  looks  up  at  her  with  a  laughing  face.  He 
rests  in  a  similar  basket-cradle  to  the  one  in  which  he  is  placed  in  the 
other  design.  (See  Plate  lxx.)  There  is  a  bold,  unfinished  study  at 
Cambridge,  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland-Gower's  book, 
which  is  evidently  the  first  idea  for  the  Liverpool  cartoon,  the  design 
of  which  was  again  altered  considerably  in  the  finished  picture.  There 
is  also  at  Cambridge  a  study  for  the  '  Nature  Unveiling.' 

The  latter  subject  was  suggested  to  Romney  by  the  following  lines, 
referring  to  Shakespeare,  in  Gray's  Pindaric  ode,  '  The  Progress  of 
Poesy ' : — 

'  Far  from  the  sun  and  summer-gale 
In  thy  green  lap  was  Nature's  Darling  laid, 
What  time,  where  lucid  Avon  stray'd, 
To  him  the  mighty  Mother  did  unveil 
Her  awful  face  :  The  dauntless  Child 
Stretch'd  forth  his  little  arms,  and  smil'd. 
Tin's  pencil  take  (she  said)  whose  colours  clear 
Richly  paint  the  vernal  year  : 
Thine  too,  these  golden  keys,  immortal  Boy  ! 
This  can  unlock  the  gates  of  Joy  ! 
Of  Horror  that,  and  thrilling  Fears, 
Or  ope  the  sacred  source  of  sympathetic  Tears.' 

362 


PL  A  TE  (.  XIX 


PLATE  LXX 


THE  DESCENT   OF  ODIN 


It  is  to  the  picture  he  began  to  paint  from  this  subject  which, 
left  unfinished,  perished  amid  the  wreck  of  his  works  at  Hampstead, 
that  Miss  Helen  Maria  Williams  referred  in  the  lines : — 

'  And  Romney's  graceful  pencil  flow, 
That  nature's  look  benign  pourtrays, 
When  to  her  infant  Shakspeare's  gaze 
The  partial  nymph  "  unveil'd  her  awful  face/' 
And  bade  "  his  colours  clear  "  her  features  trace.' 

In  No.  166,  'The  Death  of  Cordelia,' Romney  has  treated  the  theme 
with  a  severe  simplicity  which  recalls  more  than  one  of  William  Blake's 
drawings.  Cordelia  is  lying,  a  long  thin  figure,  on  a  flat  bed  devoid  of 
all  draperies.  Six  figures  are  grouped  around  her,  with  bowed  heads, 
and  attitudes  expressive  of  deep  grief,  the  two  at  the  head  and  the  foot 
of  the  bier  with  faces  concealed  in  their  hands.  John  Romney's  high 
opinion  of  his  father's  skill  in  heroic  and  ideal  painting  has  been  already 
quoted.  He  singles  out  this  design  from  King  Lear  for  special  com- 
mendation. '  He  knew  how  to  unite  Grecian  grace  with  Etruscan 
simplicity.  The  small  cartoon,  representing  the  Death  of  Cordelia,  is 
a  beautiful  specimen  of  this  kind  of  composition  ;  the  weeping  mutes 
are  exquisite.' 

The  last  cartoon,  No.  167,  '  The  Descent  of  Odin,'  is  a  subject 
taken  from  Gray's  poem  of  the  same  title.  Odin,  who  has  ridden  down 
the  '  yawning  steep '  to  the  very  gate  of  hell,  upon  his  coal-black  war- 
horse,  Sleipnir,  to  seek  news  of  the  future  fate  of  his  son  Balder,  who 
had  dreamed  he  was  soon  to  die,  is  represented  at  the  moment  when 
his  incantations  have  called  up  a  veiled  prophetess  from  her  tomb. 
She  rises  slowly  from  out  the  blackness  of  a  pit  in  the  right-hand 
corner  of  the  canvas,  only  her  head,  which  is  bound  with  a  white  cloth 
passed  under  the  chin,  and  shoulders  being  visible.  The  remainder  of 
the  picture  is  filled  with  the  figure  of  Odin  on  his  huge  prancing  horse. 
He  wears  a  crown,  and  carries  a  spear  and  shield.  His  legs  are  bare 
from  the  knee  downwards,  and  his  right  arm  is  stretched  over  the 
chasm,  while  a  look  of  fear  crosses  his  face. 

4  Some  of  these  designs,'  says  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower,  '  are 
full  of  splendid  audacity  and  poetic  feeling.  The  few  which  were 
carried  out  in  oils  on  canvas  by  Romney  prove  him  to  have  been  one 
of  the  most  imaginative  of  our  painters  apart  from  his  profession  of 
portrait-painting.  In  the  designs  taken  from  classic  lore,  one  is 
reminded  of  Fuseli's  and  Blake's  weird  creations  ;  and  where  his  favour- 
ites, Milton  and  Shakespeare,  have  inspired  him,  he  shows  a  rare  power 

363 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


of  rendering  the  creatures  of  the  poets'  brains,  with  the  simplest  of 
vehicles — a  few  strokes  of  the  pencil,  or  of  the  pen  dipped  in  Indian 
ink.' 

The  collection  in  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum,  Cambridge,  which  was 
presented  by  the  Rev.  John  Romney  in  1817,  consists  of  about  one 
hundred  and  sixty  designs  and  studies,  many  of  them  very  slight,  and 
none  of  them  carried  as  far  towards  completion  as  the  larger  ones  in 
Liverpool.  They  are  all,  however,  of  the  greatest  interest  to  the 
student  of  Romney 's  art.  Some  twenty  of  them  are  reproduced  in 
Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower's  Life.  Many  of  them  are  merely  his 
first  rough  jottings  of  suggestions  for  subjects  taken  from  Shakespeare 
or  the  classics,  which  he  abandoned  almost  as  soon  as  the  pencil  had 
left  the  paper;  there  are  few  of  these,  with  the  exception  of  the 
'  Tempest '  studies,  and  one  or  two  others,  such  as  the  slight  sketch  for 
'  Alope,'  which  were  afterwards  carried  out  as  pictures. 

The  portrait-studies  are  still  fewer  in  number,  which  is  not  surpris- 
ing, as  he  rarely  made  preliminary  pencil  sketches  of  his  sitters.  The 
best  of  these  is  the  spirited  drawing  for  '  Lady  Hamilton  at  the  Spin- 
ning-Wheel,'  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Gower's  book,  and  there 
is  also  a  hastily  dashed -in  trial  sketch  for  the  grouping  of  the  '  Dancing 
Stafford  Children.'  No.  116  is  a  fine  study  for  a  portrait-group  of  a 
mother  and  two  children.  The  lady  is  seated  on  the  right,  spinning, 
with  the  younger  girl  leaning  with  her  arms  on  her  mother's  lap.  Both 
are  looking  towards  the  older  child,  on  the  left,  who  is  standing  with 
her  arms  folded  on  her  breast,  and  holding  a  book  or  some  similar 
object.  Another  very  gracefully  composed  study  in  sepia,  a  portrait- 
group  of  a  mother  and  child  in  a  landscape,  may  be  mentioned  here, 
although  it  is  not  in  the  Cambridge  collection,  but  belongs  to  Lord 
Ronald  Sutherland  Gower,  who  reproduces  it  in  his  book.  The  mother 
is  seated  under  some  trees,  with  her  little  one  leaning  against  her  side, 
and  encircled  with  her  right  arm.  The  child  is  holding  an  open  book, 
to  which  the  mother  is  pointing  with  her  disengaged  hand.  Two  dogs 
are  roughly  indicated,  one  asleep,  and  the  other  looking  up  to  attract 
the  attention  of  its  young  companion. 

The  head  of  '  Satan '  or  the  '  Fiend,'  one  of  several  heads  for  the 
unfinished  picture  from  Henry  VI.  of '  Margery  Jourdain  and  Boling- 
broke  conjuring  up  the  Fiend,'  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  a  number 
of  studies  of  expression,  in  which  the  conception  of  evil  is  admirably 
indicated  without  unnecessary  distortion  or  exaggeration  of  individual 
features.  Even  finer  are  several  studies  in  black  chalk  for  the  head  of 
364 


IMAGINATIVE  DESIGNS 


the  Lapland  Witch,  a  subject  which  Romney  elaborated  in  a  large 
cartoon.  '  One  of  his  designs  from  fancy,'  says  Hayley,  'drawn  soon 
after  his  return  from  the  Continent,  and  giving  a  very  high  idea  of  his 
creative  powers,  was  a  cartoon  of  black  chalk,  representing  a  Lapland 
witch  surveying  the  sea  from  a  rock,  and  enjoying  the  distress  of 
mariners  from  a  tempest  of  her  own  creation.  Meyer  used  to  con- 
template this  figure  with  the  highest  delight,  admiring  the  felicity  of 
the  artist  in  preserving  the  beauty  of  fine  female  features,  and  in 
rendering  the  expression  of  the  countenance  sublimely  malignant.'  In 
the  same  writer's  Epistles  to  Romney,  published  in  1788,  he  mentions 
this  cartoon  in  the  following  lines  : — 

'  Round  fancy's  circle  when  thy  pencil  flies, 
With  what  terrific  pomp  thy  spectres  rise ! 
What  lust  of  mischief  marks  thy  witch's  form, 
While  on  the  Lapland  rock  she  swells  the  storm.' 

Hayley  had  intended  to  have  this  cartoon  engraved  for  the  Life,  but 
unfortunately  it  had  been  completely  ruined  in  the  confusion  attendant 
upon  Romney 's  removal  to  Hampstead,  and  the  '  Shipwreck  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,'  engraved  by  William  Blake,  was  inserted  in  its 
stead.  A  paragraph  in  one  of  Miss  Seward's  letters,  written  in  1788, 
suggests  a  probable  source  of  Romney's  inspiration  for  this  picture. 
X  You  remember  the  beautiful  translation  in  the  Spectator  of  the  Lap- 
land odes !  I  was  once  shewn  a  close  translation  of  them,  and  copied 
it.    There  was  much  rich  matter  to  work  upon.' 

The  '  Sketch  of  a  Shipwreck,'  mentioned  more  than  once  in  Blake's 
letters,  quoted  in  an  earlier  chapter,  has  in  design  considerable  affinity 
to  the  '  Tempest '  picture.  The  original,  which  cannot  now  be  traced, 
was  an  unfinished  sketch  in  oil,  which  John  Romney  gave  to  the  poet. 
It  represented  the  heroic  exploit  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  recorded 
in  the  Travels  of  Thunberg,  of  a  certain  W oltemad,  who  plunged  into 
a  raging  sea  on  his  horse  and  rescued  a  number  of  people  from  a  wreck, 
but  was  himself  drowned  in  making  a  final  attempt  to  bring  others 
ashore.  The  subject,  which  appealed  very  strongly  to  Romney,  was 
suggested  to  him  by  the  Rev.  James  Clarke,  the  biographer  of  Lord 
Nelson. 

In  one  of  the  subjects  from  Macbeth,  No.  140,  there  is  a  fine  design 
of  the  Queen,  with  arms  outstretched.  There  are  also  a  number  of 
studies  for  the  '  Tempest '  picture.  In  some  of  them  Prospero  is  seated 
in  his  cave  with  a  book,  and  his  right  hand  uplifted,  while  Miranda 
stands  on  one  side  distracted,  with  her  hands  to  her  head.    In  others 

365 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


they  stand  in  attitudes  more  closely  resembling  those  in  the  finished 
work,  while  in  one  the  crouching  figure  of  Caliban  is  indicated.  There 
is  a  fine  suggestion  of  movement  in  a  design,  only  hastily  indicated,  of 
a  subject  given  by  Hayley :  •  Two  elegant  Girls  chasing  of  a  butterfly  in 
a  garden  ;  the  first,  a  girl  about  ten  or  eleven,  is  on  the  point  of  catch- 
ing it ;  the  elder,  about  seventeen,  surprised  and  intercepted  by  her 
lover,  a  youth  springing  from  a  thicket.  He  clasps  her  round  the 
waist  as  she  endeavours  to  escape.'  Several  of  the  sketches  suggested 
by  Hayley  s  Essay  on  Old  Maids — '  a  work  which  reflects  no  credit  on 
its  author,'  according  to  John  Romney — very  closely  follow  the  com- 
position of  '  Shakespeare  nursed  by  Comedy  and  Tragedy.' 

One  of  the  largest  series  consists  of  eleven  designs  for  a  subject 
given  by  Richard  Cumberland  :  'A  group  of  Bacchantes  are  assisting 
at  the  initiation  of  a  Rustic  Nymph.  They  assail  her  senses  with  wine, 
music  and  dance ;  she  hesitates ;  and  in  the  moment,  betwixt  the 
allurements  of  pleasure,  and  the  scruples  of  bashfulness,  accepts  the 
Thyrsis  in  one  hand,  and  seizes  the  goblet  with  the  other.  Triumph 
and  revelry  possess  the  whole  group,  and  every  attitude  of  gaiety, 
every  luxuriancy  of  scenery  enriches,  and  enflames  the  composition.' 
Other  hasty  studies  for  this  composition  are  to  be  found  in  more  than 
one  of  Romney 's  sketch-books,  the  whole  indicating  the  difficulty  he 
found  in  satisfying  himself  in  one  of  the  most  complicated  and  elabo- 
rate groupings  he  ever  planned  out  for  a  picture.  He  began  to  paint 
the  picture  itself  on  a  large  canvas,  and  had  made  considerable  pro- 
gress with  it,  but  one  day,  when  Captain  Thomas  Dalton  was  sitting 
to  him  for  his  portrait,  he  happened  to  catch  sight  of  it,  and  made  some 
broad  jokes  about  it,  which  so  agitated  Romney,  ever  sensitive  to  ridi- 
cule, that  he  put  the  unfinished  work  away,  and  never  touched  it 
again.  Two  other  designs,  Nos.  75  and  76,  representing  some  maidens 
consulting  a  fortune-teller,  are  very  similar  to  the  '  Initiation '  studies. 
They  are  drawn  with  great  freedom,  and  the  group  of  figures  is  well 
arranged,  while  the  action  of  the  girl  who  is  forcing  a  reluctant  com- 
panion forward,  and  holding  out  her  hand  for  her  to  the  oracle,  is  a 
very  graceful  one,  and  happily  contrasted  with  the  more  dramatic  and 
exaggerated  movement  of  the  arms  of  the  old  fortune-teller  herself. 

One  of  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  Cambridge  studies  is  the  one 
depicting  the  '  Holy  Spirit  on  the  Face  of  the  Waters,'  which  is  evi- 
dently taken  from  the  second  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  : 
*  And  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep,  and  the  Spirit  of  God 
moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.'  Here  again  the  motive  is  strongly 
366 


OTHER  STUDIES  AT  CAMBRIDGE 


reminiscent  of  more  than  one  of  William  Blake's  designs.  The  Spirit, 
with  outstretched  arms,  is  shown  flying  over  a  vast  expanse  of  tumbled 
waters.  It  is  boldly  washed  in  with  the  brush,  and  displays  a  deeper 
imaginative  feeling  than  is  to  be  found  in  many  of  Romney's  designs. 
It  is,  undoubtedly,  a  study  for  the  picture,  already  described,  painted 
by  Romney  in  Rome,  called  '  Providence  brooding  over  Chaos,'  of 
which,  on  account  of  its  subject,  John  Romney  so  disapproved  that  he 
changed  its  title  to  that  of  '  Jupiter  Pluvius '  for  the  purposes  of  the 
Hampstead  sale. 

Only  three  of  the  Cambridge  drawings  give  evidence  that  Romney 
possessed  a  sense  of  humour.  These  are  taken  from  King  Henry  IV., 
and  are  devoted  to  the  adventures  of  Falstaff.  No.  128,  in  which  the 
fat  knight  is  shown  seated,  at  the  moment  when  Doll  Tearsheet  is 
exclaiming  '  Captain  !  thou  abominable  damned  cheater  ! '  is  a  fine  pencil 
study,  full  of  humorous  character.  According  to  John  Romney,  the 
head  of  Falstaff  bears  a  resemblance  to  John  Henderson,  the  actor. 

Other  studies,  more  particularly  those  from  the  nude,  display  the 
poverty  of  his  drawing  ;  but  there  are  certain  hasty  sketches,  the  merest 
suggestions  for  pictures,  such  as  '  The  Last  Judgment,'  also  at  Cam- 
bridge, in  which  there  is  a  clever  arrangement  of  material,  and  much 
animation  and  sense  of  movement  in  the  grouping  of  the  numerous 
small  figures.  Taken  as  a  whole,  these  studies  and  designs  are  of  very 
real  interest  to  the  student  of  Romney's  work,  showing  as  they  do  how 
it  was  through  no  lack  of  inventive  power,  but  rather  from  an  inability 
to  confine  it  within  definite  channels,  that  he  was  unable  to  realise  his 
ambition  of  gaining  a  great  reputation  as  a  painter  of  a  higher  art  than 
mere  portraiture.  The  causes  of  such  failure,  as  already  pointed  out, 
were  partly  inherent  in  his  own  character,  and  partly  due  to  the  lack  of 
systematic  study  in  a  good  school  in  his  younger  days. 


367 


XXVIII 


TO  sum  up  his  art  in  a  few  words,  it  is  by  his  portraiture  that 
Romney  must  stand  or  fall,  when  the  attempt  is  made  to 
place  him  in  his  true  position  among  the  leaders  of  the 
English  school  of  painting  in  the  eighteenth  century.  In  portraiture 
his  art  found  its  truest  and  most  natural  outlet ;  and,  at  its  best,  it 
was  an  art  of  singular  charm  and  beauty,  in  certain  of  its  features 
perhaps  unequalled  by  any  of  his  contemporaries. 

When  the  addition  of  its  good  qualities  comes  to  be  made,  it  will 
be  found  that  it  falls  short  of  the  art  both  of  Reynolds  and  of  Gains- 
borough. Sir  Joshua's  range  was  much  wider,  as  has  been  already 
pointed  out,  and  his  intellectual  grasp  of  the  character  of  his  sitters 
was,  as  a  rule,  profounder  and  more  subtle.  His  colour  had  a  deeper, 
richer  glow,  and  greater  variety,  founded  upon  a  life-long  study  of  the 
Italian  masters.  From  a  purely  technical  point  of  view  Romney 's 
colouring  was  much  the  sounder,  for  he  confined  himself  within  a 
narrow  range,  from  which  he  very  rarely  departed,  and  he  never 
ventured  upon  the  use  of  colours  unless  he  was  assured  of  their 
durability.  Reynolds,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  daring  experimentalist, 
always  seeking  new  methods  by  which  he  might  gain  still  more  lovely 
effects,  however  ephemeral,  and  careless  as  to  the  future  if  only  he 
could  give  for  the  moment  the  fullest  possible  expression  to  his  keen 
delight  in  the  beauty  of  colour.  In  consequence,  many  of  his  canvases 
faded  until  they  were  mere  ghosts  of  their  first  brilliancy,  even  more 
quickly  than  his  sitters  themselves  lost  the  freshness  of  youth  ;  whereas 
few  of  Romney 's  pictures  have  changed  for  the  worse  during  the 
hundred  years  that  have  passed  since  his  death. 

In  his  management  of  single  tints,  and  particularly  in  the  way  in 
which  he  dealt  with  large  masses  of  white,  Romney  was  singularly 
happy.  His  colour,  cool,  clear,  and  often  cold,  is,  within  its  limits, 
most  harmonious,  and  even  in  his  least  considered  and  most  careless 
pictures  it  is  rarely  discordant.  An  instance  of  the  successful  way  in 
which  he  could  deal  with  a  colour  in  itself  unpleasant,  is  to  be  found 
368 


CHARACTERISTICS   OF  HIS  ART 


in  the  very  ugly  red  of  the  large  chair  in  Lord  Burton's  picture  of 
'  Thomas  Fane  '  against  which  the  little  white-frocked  child  is  leaning 
— one  of  Romney's  most  successful  and  solidly  painted  pictures  of 
childhood — which  strikes  no  discordant  note  in  the  colour  scheme. 
The  dresses  and  robes  of  his  ceremonial-portraits,  simple  and  broad  in 
treatment,  have  little  of  the  richness  and  sumptuousness  of  hue  and 
texture  in  which  Reynolds  delighted,  and  in  some  of  his  canvases  of 
this  class,  more  especially  in  those  of  men,  the  colour  is  flat  and  un- 
interesting. In  his  drawing  of  draperies,  however,  and  particularly  of 
those  based  upon  a  classical  tradition,  he  reached  a  point  of  excellence 
in  which  he  was  unequalled  in  his  day,  and  the  decorative  effect  they 
produce  is  one  of  rare  beauty.  There  is  in  them  a  breadth  of  design, 
a  purity  of  colour,  and  a  grace  of  line — veiling,  as  they  do,  yet  not  con- 
cealing, the  beauty  of  the  form  beneath  them — which,  in  spite  of  a  lack 
of  profound  research,  combine  to  produce  that  effect  of  grandeur  and 
simplicity  which  he  was  always  striving  to  reach.  In  their  classical 
severity  his  draperies  have  little  in  common  with  those  of  Gains- 
borough. They  do  not  suggest  the  momentarily  arrested  movement 
and  vivacity  of  the  figure  which  they  clothe ;  they  are  not  '  all  a-flutter 
like  a  lady's  fan  ' ;  there  is  nothing  of  Herrick's  '  tempestuous  petticoat  * 
about  them.  His  hand  was  rapid  and  dexterous  enough  when  render- 
ing them  after  his  own  convention,  but  in  those  portraits  in  which  he 
seems  to  be  attempting  to  catch  something  of  the  light  and  airy  grace, 
and  the  swift  and  feathery  touch  of  Gainsborough,  he  is  the  least 
successful. 

In  his  full-length  portraits  he  aimed  at  a  statuesque  effect  more 
often  than  a  suggestion  of  movement.  If  there  is  movement,  it  is  a 
stately  one,  as  in  the  fine  '  Mrs.  Verelst '  descending  the  staircase  ;  even 
in  the  group  of  the  '  Stafford '  children  the  dancing  is  rhythmic  and 
almost  as  sedate  as  a  Dance  of  the  Hours  or  Vestal  Maidens  on  a 
Greek  bas-relief.  In  this  quality  his  pictures  differ  greatly  from  those 
of  his  two  rivals,  in  which  there  is  often  far  greater  animation  and  a 
franker  expression  of  the  vitality  of  the  model,  such  as  is  seen  with 
very  happy  effect  in  such  portraits  as  the  '  Duchess  of  Devonshire  and 
her  Baby  '  by  Reynolds,  or  the  '  Baccelli '  of  Gainsborough. 

Less  learned  and  intellectual  than  Reynolds,  and  less  a  man  of  the 
world  than  Gainsborough,  he  did  not  go  so  deeply  below  the  surface 
as  they  did  in  order  to  lay  bare  those  more  subtle  traits  of  character 
which  the  human  countenance  conceals  from  all  but  the  most  penetrat- 
ing gaze.     Certain  qualities  he  discovered  and  realised  with  the 

G.  R.-24  g69 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 

keenest  sympathy :  the  freshness  and  ingenuousness  of  youth,  the 
radiant  loveliness  of  newly  awakened  womanhood,  gracious  and 
graceful  as  a  flower  upon  its  stem,  as  yet  undisturbed  by  passions  ;  and 
the  dignity  and  seriousness  of  manhood.  These  he  painted  with  rare 
felicity  and  appreciation,  so  that  the  charm  of  his  best  portraits  is  an 
abiding  one. 

Beauty,  strongly  felt  and  closely  seen,  and  pictured  with  both 
simplicity  and  dignity,  must  always  make  a  strong  appeal,  and  the 
extraordinary  sweetness  and  grace  of  many  of  Romney's  portraits  of 
elegant  youths,  fair  maids,  and  innocent  children,  will  only  cease  to 
please  both  lovers  of  painting  and  the  less  critical  multitude  when  the 
canvases  themselves  have  perished ;  and  this  almost  irresistible  charm 
will  be  most  strongly  felt  in  the  presence  of  those  lovely  groups 
representing  mother  and  child,  in  which  Romney's  art  touched  its 
highest  point  and  found  its  most  pure  expression.  Faults  he  may 
have  had  in  abundance,  faults  both  of  character  and  of  art,  but  few 
traces  of  the  former  are  to  be  found  in  his  painting,  except  in  the  mass 
of  incomplete  work  he  left  behind  him,  while  the  latter  pass  almost 
unheeded  in  the  presence  of  that  vision  of  perfect  beauty  which  he  could 
conjure  up  at  will  for  our  constant  admiration  and  delight. 


370 


PLA  YE  LXXI 


PLATE  r.XXtl 


MRS.  TICKELL 

IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  MR.   ALFRED   DE  ROTHSCHILD 


XXIX 


IT  may  be  of  interest  to  students  of  llomney's  work  if  a  few 
extracts  are  gathered  together,  in  a  concluding  chapter,  from  the 
criticisms  of  the  more  important  writers  who  have  dealt  with  his 
art  from  the  time  of  his  death  until  the  present  day. 

There  are  few  contemporary  records  from  which  it  is  possible  to 
learn  in  what  esteem  his  fellow-painters  held  him  as  an  artist.  The 
only  two  of  any  importance  were  written  by  John  Flaxman,  R.A.,  and 
Thomas  Phillips,  R.A.  The  former  prepared  for  Hayley's  book  a 
'  Sketch  of  Romney's  Professional  Character,'  and  the  latter  contributed 
an  unsigned  article  on  the  painter  to  Abraham  Rees'  The  Cyclopaedia, 
or  Universal  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Sciences,  and  Literature,  published 
in  1819. 

What  Flaxman  has  to  say  about  him  is  well  worth  attention,  and  a 
few  sentences  from  his  essay  may  be  quoted  here : — 

'  Modest  in  his  opinion  of  his  own  talents,  he  practised  no  tricks  or 
deception  to  obtain  popularity,  but  as  he  loved  his  art  fervently,  he 
practised  it  honestly,  with  indefatigable  study  and  application.  The 
circumstances  of  his  early  life  seemed  wholly  unpropitious  to  the 
study  of  painting.  ...  If  his  memory  was  not  much  exercised  in 
learning  words  at  school,  some  of  his  other  faculties  were  not  idle.  His 
contemplative  mind  was  employed  in  observing  carefully,  inquiring 
minutely  into,  and  reflecting  continually  on  the  objects  around  him, 
and  thus  by  comparing  and  adding  the  results  of  his  own  observation, 
with  the  little  he  was  taught,  he  gained  perhaps  as  much  useful  know- 
ledge as  is  commonly  acquired,  in  the  ordinary  way,  with  greater 
assistance  from  books  and  masters.  .  .  .  When  he  first  began  to  paint, 
he  had  seen  no  gallery  of  pictures,  nor  the  fine  productions  of  ancient 
sculpture ;  but  men,  women  and  children  were  his  statues,  and  all 
objects  under  the  cope  of  heaven  formed  his  school  of  painting.  The 
rainbow,  the  purple  distance,  or  the  silver  lake,  taught  him  colouring ; 
the  various  actions  and  passions  of  the  human  figure,  with  the  forms  of 
clouds,  woods,  mountains  or  valleys  afforded  him  studies  of  composi- 

371 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


tion.  Indeed  his  genius  bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  scenes  he 
was  born  in ;  like  them  it  partook  of  the  grand  and  beautiful ;  and  like 
them  also,  the  bright  sunshine  and  enchanting  prospects  of  his  fancy, 
were  occasionally  overspread  with  mist  and  gloom.' 

After  touching  upon  the  improvement  of  his  art  resulting  from  his 
visit  to  Italy,  he  goes  on  to  say :  '  After  his  return  the  novelty  and 
sentiment  of  his  original  subjects  were  universally  admired.  Most  of 
these  were  of  the  delicate  class,  and  each  had  its  peculiar  character.  .  .  . 
Few  painters  have  left  so  many  examples  in  their  work  of  the  tender 
and  delicate  affections,  and  several  of  his  pictures  breathe  a  kindred 
spirit  with  the  Sigismonda  of  Corregio.  His  cartoons,  some  of  which 
have  unfortunately  perished,  were  examples  of  the  sublime  and  terrible, 
at  that  time  perfectly  new  in  English  art.  .  .  .  As  Romney  was  gifted 
with  peculiar  powers  for  historical  and  ideal  painting,  so  his  heart  and 
soul  were  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  it,  whenever  he  could  extricate 
himself  from  the  importunate  business  of  portrait  painting.  .  .  .  He 
endeavoured  to  combine  all  the  possible  advantages  of  the  subject 
immediately  before  him,  and  to  exclude  whatever  had  a  tendency  to 
weaken  it.  His  compositions,  like  those  of  the  ancient  pictures,  and 
basso  relievos,  told  their  story  by  a  single  group  of  figures  in  the  front, 
whilst  the  back  ground  is  made  the  simplest  possible,  rejecting  all 
unnecessary  episode,  and  trivial  ornament,  either  of  secondary  groups 
or  architectural  subdivision.  In  his  compositions  the  beholder  was 
forcibly  struck  by  the  sentiment  at  the  first  glance,  the  gradations  and 
varieties  of  which  he  traced  through  several  characters,  all  conceived  in 
an  elevated  spirit  of  dignity  and  beauty,  with  a  lively  expression  of 
nature  in  all  the  parts.  His  heads  were  various:  the  male  were 
decided  and  grand ;  the  female  lovely :  his  figures  resembled  the 
antique  ;  the  limbs  were  elegant,  and  finely  formed ;  his  drapery  was 
well  understood,  either  forming  the  figure  into  a  mass  with  one  or  two 
deep  folds  only,  or  by  its  adhesion  and  transparency  discovering  the 
form  of  the  figure,  the  lines  of  which  were  finely  varied,  with  the  union 
or  expansion  of  spiral  or  cascade  folds,  composing  with,  or  contrasting 
the  outline  and  chiaro  oscuro  :  he  was  so  passionately  fond  of  Grecian 
sculpture,  that  he  had  filled  his  study  and  galleries  with  fine  casts  from 
the  most  perfect  statues,  groups,  basso  relievos,  and  busts  of  antiquity. 

'  A  peculiar  shyness  of  disposition  kept  him  from  all  association 
with  public  bodies,  and  led  to  the  pursuit  of  his  studies  in  retirement 
and  solitude,  which  at  the  same  time,  that  it  encouraged  habits  of 
great  temperance,  allowed  him  the  more  leisure  for  observation,  reflec- 
372 


CONTEMPORARY  CRITICISMS 


tion,  and  trying  his  skill  in  other  arts,  connected  with  his  own.  And 
indeed  few  artists,  since  the  fifteenth  century,  have  been  able  to  do  so 
much  in  so  many  different  branches  ;  for  besides  his  beautiful  composi- 
tions and  pictures,  which  have  added  to  the  knowledge  and  celebrity 
of  the  English  school,  he  modelled  like  a  sculptor,  carved  ornaments 
in  wood  with  great  delicacy,  and  could  make  an  architectural  design 
in  a  fine  taste,  as  well  as  construct  every  part  of  the  building.' 

Following  upon  Flaxman's  contribution  to  his  book,  Hayley  prints 
a  short  eulogy  from  the  pen  of  a  painter  whose  name  he  withholds : 
'  The  person  who,  of  all  his  companions,  may  be  said  to  have  con- 
templated his  works  and  his  character  through  the  greatest  length 
of  time,  with  increasing  esteem  and  admiration.' 

'I  am  satisfied,'  says  his  anonymous  friend,  'that  whatever  you 
may  say  of  Romney,  as  a  great  artist,  his  works  will  justify  in  the 
fullest  extent.  If  as  an  old  artist  myself,  I  may  be  permitted  to 
judge  the  talents  of  so  extraordinary  a  man,  as  our  late  beloved  friend, 
I  should  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  after  his  return  from  his  studies 
abroad,  he  was  not  less  qualified  to  excel  in  the  highest  walk  of  art, 
history,  than  for  the  profession  of  portraiture.  .  .  .  For  luxuriance 
of  invention,  he  may  be  classed  with  Rubens  himself.  There  is  one 
thing,  that  may  still  be  added  to  his  other  excellencies.  I  mean  the 
exceeding  beauty  of  his  draperies,  both  in  his  portraits  and  his 
historical  compositions,  which  surpass  every  thing  of  the  kind,  that 
I  have  ever  seen ;  they  were  all  painted  from  models,  and  after  he  had 
finished  adjusting  them  upon  the  layman,  he  always  said  he  looked 
upon  them  as  half  done,  so  ready  and  certain  was  his  execution,  that 
it  is  but  doing  him  common  justice  to  say,  that  he  stands  unrivalled 
in  this  department  of  the  art.'  This  praise  of  the  beauty  of  Romney 's 
treatment  of  draperies  in  his  pictures  has  been  ascribed  frequently 
and  erroneously  to  Flaxman,  through  a  too  careless  reading  of  Hayley's 
volume. 

Thomas  Phillips,  who  makes  use  of  parts  of  Flaxman's  essay  in  his 
criticism,  if  less  enthusiastic  than  the  latter,  who  was  a  close  and  personal 
friend  of  the  painter,  and  one  who  held  in  equal,  or  even  greater, 
admiration  the  works  of  the  old  Greek  sculptors,  is  perhaps  a  better, 
because  a  more  impartial  judge,  less  influenced  by  friendship  to  ignore 
faults  which  must  be  taken  into  consideration  if  a  just  appreciation 
of  Romney 's  art  is  to  be  reached.  '  Of  Romney  as  an  artist,'  he 
writes, '  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  appreciate  the  just  character.  That  he 
possessed  genius  and  talents  in  an  eminent  degree,  no  one  can  deny.  The 

373 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


learned  editor  of  Pilkington's  Dictionary  has  said,  "  that  he  was  made 
for  the  times,  and  the  times  for  him."  It  had  perhaps  been  more  just 
to  have  observed,  that  Romney  was  made  for  better  times  than  those 
in  which  he  lived.  His  perception  of  art  was  far  purer  than  most 
of  his  contemporaries,  at  least  in  this  country,  were  capable  of 
enjoying ;  and  it  must  be  remembered,  that  no  one  ever  set  forth  in  the 
career  of  an  artist  under  greater  disadvantages  than  he  did.  The 
taste  he  imbibed  for  simplicity  and  grandeur,  on  seeing,  at  an 
advanced  period  of  his  life,  the  works  of  the  ancient  artists,  prove 
what  might  have  been  fairly  expected  of  him,  had  he  happily  been 
born  under  more  favourable  circumstances  ;  and  early  initiated,  under 
good  instructors,  in  the  mysteries  of  the  art  he  cultivated  with  so 
much  success  without  those  aids. 

*  The  pursuit  of  painting,  however,  requires  a  knowledge  of  certain 
rules  in  the  arrangement  of  lines ;  of  the  beauty  and  power  of  con- 
trast in  light  and  shade,  and  in  form  and  colour ;  as  well  as  of  the 
speediest  and  most  efficient  modes  of  execution.  This  science, 
being  the  result  of  repeated  observations  upon  the  principles  by  which 
Nature  produces  her  most  agreeable  and  sublime  effects,  is  most 
readily  obtained,  by  a  careful  inspection  of  good  works  of  art  wherein 
it  is  exemplified.  Such  advantage  was  not  Romney 's.  He  had  to 
separate  for  himself  the  partial,  from  the  general  effects  of  Nature; 
and  the  inequality  with  which  he,  in  this  point,  met  the  rivalry  of 
more  fortunate  artists,  is  too  evident  in  most  of  his  productions. 
Frequently,  his  chiaroscuro  is  ill-conducted,  and  his  harmony  of  forms 
and  colours  imperfect ;  even  in  pictures  produced  when  enjoying  the 
height  of  his  intellectual  power,  and  at  the  happiest  period  of  his 
executive  skill :  at  the  same  time  they  exhibit  great  fertility  of  inven- 
tion, with  sweetness  and  delicacy  of  sentiment. 

'  His  journey  to  Italy  expanded  his  view  of  art :  new  scenes,  and 
new  sources  of  information,  were  presented  to  him,  of  which  he  did 
not  neglect  to  avail  himself.  The  works  of  fancy  he  produced  after 
his  return  home  exemplify  the  use  he  made  of  the  two  years  he  spent 
among  the  unrivalled  productions  of  art  he  there  met  with.  The 
purity  and  perfection  of  ancient  sculpture  appear  to  have  made  the 
deepest  impression  upon  his  mind  :  and  he  afterwards  assiduously 
cherished  the  taste  he  then  imbibed.  .  .  .  Hence,  grandeur  and 
simplicity  became  the  principal  objects  of  his  ambition ;  he  perceived 
these  qualities  distinctly,  and  employed  them  judiciously  ;  even  whilst 
imitating  Nature  in  his  most  usual  occupation, — portrait-painting.  To 
374 


THOMAS  PHILLIPS5  CRITICISM 


present  his  figure,  or  tell  his  story,  with  simple  undisturbed  effect, 
rejecting  all  unnecessary  minutiae,  was  the  point  he  aimed  at  and 
obtained. 

'  He  was  in  general  fortunate  in  the  choice  of  his  historical 
subjects  ;  and  certainly,  in  this  respect,  had  far  the  advantage  of  his 
great  rival,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds :  and  no  less  so  in  the  power  of 
expression,  which  he  scarcely  ever  failed  to  obtain  :  whilst  the  latter, 
in  his  historical  pictures,  has  rarely  been  so  happy.  Reynolds  gave 
beauty  and  grace  to  his  figures  :  Romney  imparted  soul.  The  former 
delights  the  eye  with  the  harmony  and  richness  of  colour,  and  beauty 
of  effect;  the  latter  thrills  and  gratifies  the  heart  with  truth  and 
force  of  expression,  in  action  and  countenance  ;  wrought  with  more 
simplicity,  but  with  less  art. 

'  In  portraiture,  however,  the  justly  exalted  president  of  the  Royal 
Academy  stood  alone,  and  Romney  was  not  able  to  cope  with  him. 
In  the  composition  of  his  figures,  our  artist  exhibited  the  taste  he  had 
acquired  by  the  study  of  the  antique ;  and  he  admirably  varied  the 
characters  of  his  heads.  The  arrangement  of  drapery  which  he 
adopted,  partook  largely  of  the  same  style ;  and  being  well  under- 
stood, was  painted  with  great  dexterity  ;  though  it  must  be  confessed, 
that  in  form,  it  was  not  unfrequently  better  adapted  to  sculpture  than 
to  painting.  His  style  of  colouring  was  simple  and  broad.  In  that 
of  his  flesh  he  was  very  successful ;  exhibiting  a  great  variety  of 
complexion,  with  much  warmth  and  richness.  It  was  not  always, 
however,  that  his  pictures  were  complete  in  the  general  tone ;  but 
crude  discordant  colours  were  sometimes  introduced  in  the  back- 
grounds, which  not  being  blended  or  broken  into  unison  with  the 
hue  of  the  principal  figures,  interrupted  the  harmony  of  the  whole. 
The  executive  part  of  his  works  was  free,  learned,  and  precise,  without 
being  trifling  or  minute,  possessing  great  simplicity,  and  exhibiting  a 
purity  of  feeling  consonant  with  the  style  of  his  compositions.  He 
aimed  at  the  best  of  all  principles  in  the  imitation  of  nature,  viz.  to 
generalize  its  effects ;  he  even  carried  it  so  far  as  to  subject  himself 
to  the  charge  of  negligence  in  the  completion  of  his  forms  :  but  the 
truth  of  his  imitation  is  sufficiently  perfect  to  satisfy  the  minds  of 
those  who  regard  nature  systematically,  and  not  individually,  or  too 
minutely.  In  a  word,  every  lover  of  art  who  knows  how  to  appreciate 
truly  what  is  most  valuable  in  painting,  will  hold  the  name  of  Romney 
in  increasing  estimation,  the  more  frequently  and  impartially  he 
examines  his  productions.' 

375 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


To  these  two  appreciations  of  Romney's  art  may  be  added  a  few 
lines  from  Allan  Cunningham,  who  says  : — 

'  In  the  eulogium  of  Flaxman  are  read  the  sentiments  of  a 
fine  judge;  but  we  must,  nevertheless,  look  upon  it  as  the  opinion 
of  one  more  desirous  to  dwell  on  excellencies  than  to  point  out 
defects.  It  was  a  great  merit  in  the  sculptor's  eyes  that  Romney 
was  enthusiastic  about  the  ideal  in  art — that  he  was  in  raptures 
with  the  antique,  and  aimed  at  severe  simplicity  in  his  composi- 
tions. His  ideas  were  often,  indeed,  original  and  striking;  but, 
in  communicating  them  to  the  canvas,  he  exhibited  not  a  little 
of  the  deficiency  visible  in  the  productions  of  the  great  sculptor 
himself,  viz.  a  certain  air  of  heaviness  in  form,  and  want  of  grace 
and  delicacy  in  workmanship,  which  detract  seriously  from  the  merit 
of  the  conception.' 

He  adds,  however,  in  speaking  of  his  ideal  and  historical  pieces, 
that  '  some  of  them  are  equal,  in  loftiness  of  thought,  and  in  simplicity 
of  conception,  to  any  productions  of  that  class  in  the  British  school ' ; 
while  with  regard  to  his  portraiture  he  is  of  opinion  that  '  Romney 
missed,  certainly,  the  grace  and  ease,  and  the  fine  flush  of  colouring, 
which  have  brought  lasting  fame  to  Reynolds ;  and  he  wanted,  more- 
over, his  illustrious  rival's  exquisite  prudence  in  handling  the  costume 
of  the  day,  so  as  to  soften  down  its  capes,  and  cuffs,  and  buttons. 
There  appear,  however,  traces  of  great  dignity  and  manliness  in  all 
his  heads — and,  in  some,  a  certain  touch  of  poetic  loftiness,  of  which 
Reynolds  has  furnished  hardly  an  example.' 

Though  John  Romney's  qualifications  as  a  critic  of  art  were  no 
greater  than  those  of  any  other  cultured  man  of  his  time,  and  though 
his  opinions  were  not  unbiassed  by  filial  affection,  yet  his  summing  up 
of  his  father's  chief  merits  as  a  painter  is  not  without  interest  even 
to-day,  however  lightly  his  artistic  judgment  is  regarded  by  the  modern 
scientific  school. 

'  His  forte,'  he  holds,  '  was  heroic,  and  imaginative  painting, 
which  if  he  had  pursued,  he  might  have  painted  in  a  prison.  In 
his  endeavours,  however,  to  secure  an  independence  as  soon  as 
possible  in  order  that  he  might  devote  himself  without  restraint 
to  the  higher  pursuits  of  his  profession  ;  he,  unfortunately,  destroyed 
his  health  by  his  intemperance  of  study ;  and  thus  prevented  the 
object  he  had  in  view,  by  the  very  means  through  which  he  had 
intended  to  have  promoted  it — for  when  the  period  arrived  in  which 
all  those  great  works  which  he  had  projected,  were  to  have  been 
376 


JOHN   ROMNEY'S  CRITICISM 


performed,  he  was  become  disabled  by  disease  and  the  infirmities  of  a 
premature  old  age.' 

'  Notwithstanding  Mr.  Romney's  ardent  enthusiasm  for  heroic 
painting,  he  had  a  rich  and  elegant  fancy,  and  a  nice  perception 
of  the  charms  and  graces  of  female  beauty ;  particularly  of  that 
fascinating  reserve,  which  results  from  innocence  and  virtue :  he 
had,  also,  a  correct  feeling  and  knowledge  of  the  unrestrained 
actions  and  playful  antics  of  children ;  and  by  combining  these 
respective  impressions,  he  formed  in  his  imagination  those  ideal 
beings,  called  Fairies,  which  have  so  frequently  been  employed  as 
agents  in  poetic  fictions. 

'  There  are  certain  felicities  both  of  conception  and  execution,  in 
painting  as  well  as  in  poetry,  in  which  an  artist  may  be  said 

'  To  catch  a  grace  beyond  the  reach  of  art.' 

That  poetic  fervour  and  almost  magical  influence,  which  directs  both 
the  pencil  and  the  pen,  and  gives  birth  to  those  felicities,  was  power- 
fully felt  by  Mr.  Romney.  He  had  a  just  conception  of  the  beau  ideal 
which  he  had  acquired  by  a  diligent  study  of  the  antique  while  at 
Rome ;  so  that  even  in  his  portraits  he  was  able  to  combine  ideal  grace 
with  the  realities  of  nature.  He  could  impart  to  his  female  figures 
that  indescribable  something— that  Je  ne  sai  quoi  which  captivates  the 
spectator  without  his  being  able  to  account  for  it.  He  knew  how  to 
unite  Grecian  grace  with  Etruscan  simplicity.' 

'  In  the  subordinate  parts  of  a  picture  he  generally  excelled.  He 
painted  drapery  with  great  facility  and  quickness ;  and,  though  it  is 
often  slight,  it  is  always  masterly.  In  his  back-grounds  he  was  not 
so  happy,  he  seems  to  have  painted  with  too  much  body  in  his  colours, 
and  with  too  full  a  brush  ;  so  that  he  sometimes  missed  those  delicate 
touches  which  express  distance.  In  this  department  of  his  art  he  was 
certainly  inferior  to  Reynolds,  whose  backgrounds  are  often  exquisite 
bits  of  landscape. 

'  In  the  colouring  of  Mr.  Romney's  portraits  there  is  a  purity,  a 
clearness,  and  relief,  which  give  them  the  appearance  of  reality.  In 
representing  the  carnations  of  the  female  face  his  skill  was  pre-eminent. 
.  .  .  He  never  sacrificed  the  durability  of  his  colours  in  order  to  obtain 
by  meretricious  arts  a  temporary  applause  for  rich  and  mellow  tints. 
His  style  is  clear,  chaste,  and  unsophisticated ;  and  he  will  obtain 
from  time,  what  others  have  anticipated  by  trick.     His  pictures 

.377 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


which  were  painted  sixty  years  ago,  appear  as  fresh  as  if  recently 
taken  from  the  easel.  As  he  never  put  his  name  upon  his  pictures, 
I  fear  that  many  of  them  may  hereafter  be  transferred  to  Reynolds, 
especially  when  those  by  the  latter  are  become  evanescent ;  although 
there  is  in  fact  a  very  manifest  difference  between  the  styles  of  the  two 
masters.' 

'  Mr.  Romney  has  left  numerous  historical  and  fancy  sketches 
which  bear  ample  testimony  to  his  genius.  Many  of  them  are 
conceived  with  much  originality  of  idea,  and  have  great  force  and 
power  of  expression.  Others  have  exquisite  pastoral  grace  and 
simplicity.    Has  Reynolds  left  any  similar  proofs  of  talent  ? ' 

Turning  to  more  modern  times,  a  few  extracts  from  the  writings  of 
one  or  two  of  the  leading  art  critics  may  be  given. 

Romney,  according  to  Mr.  Frederick  Wedmore,  was  sensitive  to  a 
greater  degree  than  Reynolds  and  Gainsborough  to  the  pure  grace  of 
line,  but  was  more  frequently  preoccupied  with  a  refined  lusciousness 
of  womanly  beauty  only  a  little  less  meretricious  than  the  beauty 
sought  after  by  Greuze.  '  His  draperies  are  noticeable  for  exceeding 
beauty,  but  it  is  the  beauty  of  great  simplicity,  and  of  a  simplicity  not 
painfully  sought  for,  but  quickly  found.  There  is  an  admirable  grace 
in  the  easy  concord  of  these  large  folds.  It  had  not  been  the  aim  of 
Gainsborough  ;  it  was  beyond  Reynolds  ;  its  inspiration  was  more  from 
Greece  than  from  Rome.  The  drapery  was  not  gorgeous,  but  slender 
and  severe,  even  in  all  the  exquisiteness  of  its  flow  ;  its  folds  scanty 
rather  than  voluminous  ;  it  answered  so  to  Flaxman's  ideal,  and  his 
ideal  was  the  highest.  His  art  deals  neither  with  the  subtleties  of 
intellectual  character,  nor  with  the  tasks  of  minutely  imitative  painting, 
and  in  characterising  it  the  first  word  to  be  used  is  grace,  and  almost 
the  last  is  grace' 

'  The  grand  style,'  in  Mr.  Claude  Phillips'  opinion, '  was  the  aim  that 
Romney,  like  so  many  of  his  contemporaries,  had  constantly  before 
him  ;  and  though,  luckily  for  English  art,  the  tide  of  fashion  in  his 
favour  as  a  portraitist  was  too  strong  to  admit  of  the  full  develop- 
ment of  his  art  in  other  directions,  his  tardy  studies  nevertheless 
left  a  lasting  and,  on  the  whole,  a  beneficial  impression  on  his  manner 
in  portraiture — giving  dignity  and  simplicity,  as  well  as  grace  and 
charm,  and  enabling  him  to  avoid  the  snare  of  affectation,  into 
which  even  the  greater  of  his  contemporaries  not  infrequently  fell. 
The  classic  simplicity  of  his  designs  was  peculiarly  suited  to  hit 
the  popular  taste  in  this  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
378 


MODERN  CRITICISMS 


during  which  the  neo-classic  was  to  attain  a  greater  and  still  greater 
ascendency.' 

Sir  Martin  Conway,  speaking  of  the  portrait  of  «  Miss  Ramus,' 
says  that  it  is  a  picture  which  may  demand  undisputed  right  of' 
entry  into  any  collection  of  great  works  of  art.  '  It  possesses  a 
classical  quality  rare  in  paintings  of  the  eighteenth  century.  This 
lady  would  not  be  out  of  place  in  an  assemblage  of  Roman  beauties. 
Romney,  in  his  best  period,  was  very  economical  of  details.  He 
designed  his  figures  on  large  lines  and  contented  himself  with  a 
bold  indication  of  masses  and  planes.  He  suggested  modelling  by 
the  justness  of  his  draughtsmanship  rather  than  by  minute  indica- 
tion of  solid  form.  This  method  sometimes  produces  a  sketchy 
effect.  But  in  a  figure  such  as  this,  where  the  pose  is  so  noble, 
the  massing  of  the  parts  so  dignified  and  finely  proportioned,  the 
outlines  so  elegant  and  severe,  the  addition  of  detail  would  only 
have  detracted  from  the  breadth  of  the  whole.  The  background 
is  therefore  of  the  simplest — no  multiplicity  of  foliage,  no  forest 
glades,  nothing  but  dark  sky  above,  and  the  least  possible  indication 
of  the  earth  below.' 

The  late  Mr.  F.  G.  Stephens,  in  an  article  in  the  Magazine  of 
Art  (1897,  p.  67),  contends  that  it  is  manifestly  unfair  to  compare 
Reynolds  with  Romney.  '  It  seems  to  me  that  in  one  respect  only 
is  it  possible  to  compare  them,  because  in  that  way  alone  are  they 
nearly  on  a  level.  As  painters  the  technique  of  each  was  radically 
different  from  that  of  the  other.  For  instance,  Reynolds  was 
decidedly  a  bad  draughtsman,  as  a  painter  he  was  an  experimentalist 
of  the  wildest  kind,  and  abject  in  his  consummate  ignorance  of  that 
science  of  the  pigments  and  vehicles  which  every  Academy  student 
of  later  generations  is  the  master  of.  Romney 's  technical  range  was, 
on  the  other  hand,  of  the  narrowest,  and  it  never  varied,  but  it  was 
perfectly  safe  ;  whereas  more  than  one  half  of  the  illustrious  President's 
pictures  are  such  utter  wrecks  that,  as  in  the  case  of  Turner's  works,  it 
is  superstition  alone  which  sees  what  his  devotees  pretend  they  see.  I 
have  seen  hundreds  of  fine  Romneys,  and  never  yet  met  with  one 
which  was  not  in  good  condition ;  most  of  them  were,  indeed,  simply 
perfect.  Of  Romney  as  a  colourist,  my  conviction  is  that  his  place 
in  art-records  ought  to  be  very  much  higher  than  it  is.  As  a  painter 
of  beauty,  especially  when  the  charms  of  women  are  concerned,  it 
would  be  quite  possible  for  Romney  to  hold  his  own  against  Reynolds. 
He  was  a  grander  as  well  as  a  graver  designer  than  Reynolds,  most  of 

379 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


whose  designs  are  simply  conventions  deftly  manifest  in  paint.  There 
are  a  few  noble  exceptions  to  this  opinion,  but  those  exceptions  are 
not  the  works  of  Sir  Joshua  which  the  popular  taste  has  crowned.  .  .  . 
To  compare  them  on  equal  grounds  one  must  bring  the  men  face  to 
face  as  painters  of  children.  Here  indeed  may  Romney's  honours 
stand  firm,  so  that  the  creator  of  "  Mrs.  Stables  and  her  Daughters," 
"Mrs.  Carwardine  and  Child,"  "The  Stafford  Family,"  and  "The 
Countess  of  Warwick  and  her  Son,"  is  on  a  par  with  the  master  who 
gave  us  "  Penelope  Boothby,"  "  Miss  Bowles,"  "  Collina,"  and  "  Master 
Crewe."  It  is  strange,  but  it  is  true,  that  the  childless  Reynolds 
painted  children  with  such  art  and  exquisite  sympathy  as  no  other 
artist  since  his  time,  except  Millais,  had  the  good  fortune  to  do.  On 
the  other  hand,  Romney — who  had  several  children,  but  for  many 
years  saw  little  of  them — is  his  worthy  rival  in  this  respect  at  least. 
Thus  it  appears  that  the  proud,  shy,  and  resentful  Romney,  hypo- 
chondriac and  irritable  being  as  he  was,  and  the  genial,  courteous, 
patient,  much-loving  and  much-loved  man  of  the  world,  who  faced  him 
at  every  turn,  were  alike  in  their  one  great  humanising  love  for  children, 
and  with  almost  equal  happiness  painted  children  in  that  which  was  the 
child-painting  age  par  excellence.' 


380 


APPENDIX  I 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  JOHN  AND  ANN  ROMNEY 

John  Romney  had  eleven  children : — 

1.  William,  born  12th  May  1731 ;  died  at  Dominica,  11th  September  1768. 

2.  Jane,  born  18th  October  1732. 

3.  George,  born  15th  December  1734;  died  15th  November  1802. 

4.  John,  born  4th  December  1736;  died  in  London,  22nd  April  1782,  at  3 

o'clock  in  the  morning. 

5.  Lawrence,  born  25th  December  1737 ;  died  at  Antigua,  6th  September  1772, 

at  3  o'clock  in  the  morninsr. 

6.  Thomas,  born  26th  January  1741,  and  was  buried  31st  May  1743. 

7.  Peter,  born  1st  June  1743;  died  at  Stockport,  in  Cheshire,  on  Sunday,  11th 

May  1777,  at  12  at  noon. 

8.  James,  born  3rd  June  1745;  died  at  Bath,  October  1807. 

9  and  10.  Robert  and  Richard,  twins,  born  24th  July  1747,  and  were  buried 
soon  after. 

11.  Thomas,  the  second  of  that  name,  born  4th  November  1749 ;  died  in  1758. 

William  and  Lawrence  Romney  received  their  business  training  in  the  house  of 
Mr.  Samuel  Bradford,  merchant,  of  Lancaster.  According  to  a  letter  of  Peter 
Romney's  they  both  went  out  to  the  West  Indies  in  1762,  though  in  a  later  letter, 
dated  1766,  he  speaks  of  Lawrence  spending  a  dav  with  him  at  Ulverston  ;  the  latter 
appears  to  have  returned  home  for  a  year  or  two,  and  then  to  have  gone  out  again . 
They  were  not  very  successful  in  business,  and  the  unhealthy  climate  carried  both  of 
them  off  in  early  manhood,  William  dying  six  years  after  landing,  and  Lawrence 
four  years  later. 

In  a  letter  to  his  father,  dated  Antigua,  10th  June  1772,  Lawrence  complains 
very  bitterly  of  the  neglect  with  which  he  is  treated  by  his  relations  in 
England : — 

'  I  have  been  here  upwards  of  four  years  now  and  never  have  had  the  happiness 
of  a  line  from  you.  It  is  true  I  have  not  wrote  to  you  by  every  opportunity,  but 
I  have  frequently  wrote,  some  times  by  Lancaster,  and  some  times  by  London.  You 
certainly  must  have  got  some  of  my  letters.  ...  I  do  not  stay  here  by  choice,  and 
to  be  neglected  in  such  a  manner  makes  me  very  unhappy.  ...  So  little  do  I  know 
of  my  family  that  I  dont  even  know  in  what  part  of  the  World  to  find  them.  .  .  . 
I  dont  doubt  but  I  am  censured  about  my  Brothers  affairs,  I  have  been  told  it  is 

381 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


imagined  he  Died  worth  money,  to  my  sorrow  I  find  it  otherwise,  for  of  Late  I  find 
he  owes  money  in  Lancaster  to  a  considerable  amt.  which  I  have  order'd  to  be  paid. 
If  he  was  worth  money  he  would  hardly  have  left  England  in  Debt.  It  is  true  there 
is  money  due  to  him  to  a  considerable  amnt.  in  the  French  Islands,  but  that  will 
never  be  received  except  we  should  have  a  War,  and  those  Islands  fall  into  our  hands 
again,  then  it  is  probable  if  the  men  be  living,  and  able  to  pay,  the  Debts  may  be 
good,  otherwise  they  will  never  be  reed.  I  have  some  hopes  of  coming  home  the 
next  year,  if  I  can  possibly  I  will,  but  it  is  very  uncertain.  I  enjoy  my  health  better 
here  than  I  should  do  in  England,  and  if  I  can  make  it  worth  my  while  to  stay  I  have 
no  motive  for  home  but  to  see  you,  which  I  wish  for  very  much.  ...  I  sometimes  hear 
of  my  Brother  George's  performances  in  such  a  manner  as  gives  me  great  pleasure,  I 
suppose  he  is  one  of  the  first  Painters  in  England.  I  hope  in  God  he  may  enjoy  his 
health  to  make  a  fortune.''  Both  the  address  and  signature  to  this  letter  are  spelt 
'  Rumney.1 

Three  months  after  writing  this  letter  Lawrence  Romney  died,  the  news  of  his 
decease  being  despatched  to  the  family  at  Dalton  by  Mr.  Benjamin  Sykes,  who  wrote 
on  the  17th  of  September  : — 

'  Your  son  Lawrence  Rumney  has  been  a  very  Intimate  Particular  Acquaintance 
of  Mine  for  some  Years  past.  He  has  always  made  Our  House  his  Home  (By  Our 
House  I  mean  Sykes  and  Sandfords).  He  had  very  little  Business  to  do  on  his  Own 
Acct.  and  Mr.  Sandford  agreed  with  Him  as  I  Understand,  for  so  much  a  Year  to 
keep  our  Books  &c.  ...  On  the  20th  of  last  Month  Your  Son  was  Seized  with  a 
Fever  and  in  all  likelihood  would  have  got  the  better  of  it  as  a  Very  Clever  Doctor 
attended  Him,  had  it  not  been  for  the  Violent  Hurricane  that  Happened  on  Monday 
the  31st  of  said  Month.  The  Roof  of  the  House  He  was  in,  was  Blown  down,  and 
He  was  glad  to  get  Out  of  it  in  Safety.  Yet  Still  he  was  Exposed  to  the  wind 
which  tossed  him  about  for  several  Hours,  and  the  very  heavy  Rain  that  fell  at  the 
same  time  must  have  given  him  a  Severe  Cold  for  His  Fever  Return'd  the  next  Day 
and  never  Quitted  Him  till  (I  am  sorry  to  acquaint  you)  He  Departed  this  Life  on 
Sunday  Morning  the  Sixt.  Instant  a  little  past  three  o'clock.  I  Buryed  Him  in  a 
Genteel  Frugal  Manner  and  have  as  a  friend,  Administered  to  His  Effects.  ...  I 
am  very  Sorry  for  the  Loss  of  My  Friend  as  I  believe  He  Dyed  a  Good  Man.' 

Two  months  later  than  this  letter  Mr.  Samuel  Bradford,  of  Lancaster,  in  reply  to 
a  communication  from  James  Romney,  wrote  saying  that  '  reports  that  are  circulated 
are  not  always  authentick,  but  that  of  the  Decease  of  thy  Brother  Lawrence  is  too 
true.  I  believe  my  Factors  did  lately  imploy  him  in  their  Store  as  Bookkeeper  ;  the 
following  is  a  quotation  from  SandfoixTs  letter,  dated — 

4  "  Dominica  15th  Sepr.  I  have  just  reed,  from  Sykes  at  Antigua  the  Disagreable 
news  of  poor  Rumney "s  decease,  he  was  Interred  last  Sunday  week,  as  worthy  a  young 
fellow  as  ever  lived,  I  know  not  how  he  was  circumstane'd." 

'  The  above  is  what  I  know  of  the  matter,  and  I  condole  with  the  good  Family 
on  the  Loss  sustain'd,  which  must  be  Submited  to. 

'  Thy  Assured  Friend 

'  Saml.  Bradford.1 

Jane,  the  second  child,  and  only  daughter,  married  one  of  the  Barrows  of 


382 


APPENDIX  I 


Ulverston,  thus  connecting  the  Romney  family  with  that  of  the  well-known  Sir  John 
Barrow. 

The  third  son,  John,  two  years  younger  than  the  artist,  was  a  source  of  continual 
worry  and  anxiety  to  him.  He  lived  in  London  for  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life, 
dvino-  in  1782,  and  was  constantly  demanding  monetary  assistance  from  his  now 
celebrated  brother.  In  a  long  letter  from  Peter  in  Kendal,  written  to  Romney  a  few 
months  after  he  reached  London  in  1762,  the  latter  half  of  which  is  printed  in  the 
Rev.  John  Romney's  Life,  the  first  part  is  full  of  fears  for  John's  future,  and  of 
entreaties  to  George  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  save  him  from  himself : — 

'  You  desire  hus  not  to  trouble  our  selves  Concerning  Jackey,  but  Let  him  have 
his  full  swing.  O  heavens — God  forbid  this  epithet  should  prove  Real — and  is 
it  impossible — I  think  farr  from  it.  Poverty  the  consequence  of  a  long  state  of 
Indolence  and  Vice  will  never  take  to  Industry  for  support.  It  will  find  easier  ways 
to  Reach  its  ends.  Alas  you  sure  doent  know  the  principels  of  human  nature  May 
be  vastly  degraded  and  even  utterly  stifled  by  debauchery,  or  its  Impossible  you 
should  trust  to  His  Conscience  in  poverty.  ...  I  would  have  you  by  forse  do  some- 
thing with  him  tho  it  be  never  so  Rigerous  and  immediatly  too.  Hee  '1  Eternelly 
bless  you  for  it,  as  you'l  do  your  self  and  all  that  knows  you,  but  if  you  neglect  him 
and  doent — perhaps  curse  you.  .  .  .  Nothing  but  his  Release  will  hinder  my  father 
from  visiting  you.1 

Peter  himself,  who  was  nineteen  when  he  wrote  this  letter,  was  in  his  turn  to 
cause  his  brother  equal  anxiety.  If  he  had  been  stronger  in  character  he  might  have 
made  a  name  for  himself  as  a  painter.  With  but  a  scanty  education  he  had  con- 
siderable power  of  literary  expression  and  a  fondness  for  writing  verses.  '  He  was 
well  qualified  to  have  coped  with  Cotes  as  a  crayon-painter-,'  writes  his  nephew ;  '  but 
the  true  bias  of  his  genius  would  have  led  him  to  cultivate  the  highest  branch  of  the 
art — but,  alas  !  he  had  neither  patrons  nor  money  for  that  purpose.-1  His  face,  as  a 
young  man,  judging  by  Romney's  portrait  of  him  in  the  early  group  called  '  A  Con- 
versation,1 exhibited  at  the  Free  Society  of  Artists  in  1766,  was  a  good  one,  and  his 
character  was  not  unlike  that  of  his  more  famous  brother,  with  whom  he  studied 
from  his  sixteenth  until  his  nineteenth  year,  from  1759  to  1762. 

He  remained  in  Kendal  with  his  sister-in-law  for  about  a  year  after  Romney's 
departure  for  London,  painting  portraits  for  a  guinea  a  head.  His  most  important 
attempt  was  a  large  family  group,  representing  George  Romney  and  his  wife  in  the 
centre  of  the  picture,  the  artist  in  a  fancy  dress  of  white  satin,  with  a  dark  coat,  his 
hand  resting  on  Mrs.  Romney's  shoulder.  On  the  right  Mrs.  Abbot  was  seated,  with 
her  small  granddaughter  standing  by  her,  while  on  the  other  side  the  youthful  John 
Romney  was  drawing  a  man's  head  on  a  rock  with  chalk.  The  background  repre- 
sented wild  scenery  of  rocks  and  waterfalls,  according  to  the  last-named,  who  says 
that — 'The  sudden  death  of  the  beautiful  and  interesting  little  girl,  then  just  three 
years  old,  threw  all  into  disorder  and  confusion  ;  the  picture  was  abandoned  forever  ; 
the  domestic  establishment  broken  up,  and  its  members  separated.  The  picture  was 
kept  by  Mrs.  Romney's  sister  and  given  to  me  more  than  forty  years  ago.  As  it 
was  not  a  producible  picture  on  account  of  its  unfinished  state,  I  cut  it  up,  and  only 
kept  the  portrait  of  the  venerable  old  lady,  who  was  about  eighty  years  old  when 


383 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


painted.  I  have  it  still,  and  appreciate  it  highly.  .  .  .  Her  physiognomy  is  very- 
pleasing,  and  handsome  for  a  woman  of  her  years.  It  is  admirably  coloured,  and, 
considering  all  circumstances,  an  extraordinary  production,  sufficient  to  justify  all 
the  expectations  that  were  then  entertained  of  his  future  eminence.''  The  likeness  of 
his  brother  he  painted  from  memory,  and  partly  from  an  unfinished  crayon  study 
which  George  Romney  had  left  behind. 

When  Romney  revisited  the  north  in  1765,  he  took  back  Peter  with  him  to 
London,  but  as  the  latter  was  unable  to  maintain  himself,  he  was  forced  to  return 
to  Dalton.  In  1766  he  was  for  some  time  in  Ulverston,  lodging  with  Williamson, 
George's  old  companion,  and  corresponding  with  William  Cockin,  who  proved  him- 
self so  good  a  friend  to  more  than  one  member  of  the  Romney  family.  '  While  he 
lodged  at  Williamson's,1  we  are  told,  '  an  artful  female,  who  visited  there,  by  her 
affected  simplicity  of  manners,  and  specious  modesty,  had  the  address  to  insinuate 
herself  into  his  heart ;  and  had  nearly,  like  Circe  of  old,  entangled  him  in  her  snares. 
As  soon  as  her  mask  was  taken  off,  and  he  became  undeceived,  he  immediately 
quitted  Ulverston ;  but  she  followed  him  to  Lancaster  and  Manchester,  and  so 
annoyed  him,  that  he  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  a  magistrate  to  have  her 
removed.  She  afterwards  assumed  his  name,  pretended  to  be  his  wife,  and  under 
that  character  incurred  much  debt.  Williamson  was  severely  censured  for  giving 
countenance  to  the  intercourse.' 

Peter  went  to  Lancaster  early  in  1767,  and  painted  some  portraits  and  a  number 
of  pictures  which,  imitating  the  earlier  example  of  his  brother,  he  disposed  of  by 
lottery,  and  then  settled  in  Manchester  on  the  proceeds.  Here  he  remained  for 
some  years,  with  one  short  interval  spent  in  Liverpool,  gaining  considerable  reputa- 
tion, and  making  some  good  friends  among  several  of  the  literary  and  learned  lights 
of  the  town.  His  nature  was  such  that  he  was  constantly  in  love,  and  he  finally 
became  deeply  enamoured  of  a  Miss  Brierley.  The  sudden  death  of  this  young  lady, 
from  rapid  consumption,  plunged  him  into  such  despair  that  for  a  time  his  mind 
was  unhinged,  and  in  the  summer  of  1770  he  left  Manchester,  and  spent  the  next 
two  months  in  wandering  among  the  hills  which  separate  Lancashire  from  Yorkshire, 
regardless  of  everything  but  his  own  misery.  When  his  grief  began  to  subside  he 
settled  in  Bradford,  where,  through  the  kindness  of  a  friend,  he  soon  found  plenty  of 
occupation,  and  produced  a  number  of  portraits  in  crayons.  Here,  hoping,  perhaps, 
to  extinguish  the  recollection  of  his  sorrow  by  a  fresh  flame,  he  began  to  pay 
attentions  to  his  friend's  sister-in-law,  but  being  repulsed,  again  set  forth  as  a 
disconsolate  wanderer. 

He  neglected  his  art  for  a  time,  and  became  involved  in  debt  and  difficulties. 
Some  time  afterwards  he  settled  in  Ipswich,  where,  in  spite  of  finding  a  number  of 
sitters,  he  was,  in  1774,  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison  by  his  frame-makers. 
From  this  he  was  eventually  rescued  by  several  of  his  patrons,  with  one  of  whom, 
Mr.  Lambert,  a  professor  of  Greek  at  Cambridge,  he  removed  to  the  latter  place, 
where  he  was  employed  in  drawing  heads  at  three  guineas  apiece.  Among  those 
who  sat  to  him  were  Lord  John  Clinton,  Lord  Pelham,  Lord  and  Lady  Montford, 
Colonel  and  Mrs.  Wilson,  of  Dallam  Tower,  and  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Watson  (Miss 
Wilson). 


384 


APPENDIX  I 


It  was  about  this  time  that  he  began  to  indulge  in  drinking  habits,  to  counter- 
act the  morbid  melancholy  that  preyed  upon  his  spirits,  and  once  again  he  was 
obliged  to  beat  a  hasty  retreat,  leaving  behind  him  a  number  of  debts.  He  went 
to  London,  and,  in  the  beginning  of  1777,  his  brother  George  having  paid  his 
liabilities,  he  was  sent  to  Stockport,  where  he  seemed  to  be  making  a  fresh  start, 
when  a  sudden  attack  of  illness,  which  his  shattered  constitution  was  unable  to 
throw  off,  brought  about  his  death  in  May  of  that  year,  before  he  had  completed 
his  thirty-fourth  year. 

James  Romney,  who  was  his  brother  George's  junior  by  ten  years,  owed  his 
start  in  life  to  him,  and  he  was  the  only  one  of  the  family  who  repaid  him.  Thanks 
to  Romney's  assistance  he  went  to  India,  and  made  for  himself  a  successful  career  as 
an  officer  in  the  Honourable  East  India  Company's  service,  rising  to  the  rank  of 
Colonel  before  retiring.  His  character  has  been  touched  upon  already.  Judging 
from  his  portrait,  reproduced  in  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower's  book,  which  was 
probably  painted  by  his  brother  when  he  was  home  on  leave  in  1783,  he  was  a  hand- 
some man,  with  a  clever  face,  and  a  stronger  mouth  and  chin,  and  more  determined 
in  character,  than  the  artist.  In  James's  case  the  strain  of  genius  which  ran 
through  the  family  showed  itself  in  a  fondness  for  the  pen  rather  than  for  the 
paint-brush.  He  remained  a  bachelor,  though  not  from  inclination ;  for  he  offered 
marriage  to  a  young  lady  of  nineteen,  the  widow  of  Mr.  Halsey,  Governor 
of  Salsette,  Bombay,  but  she  refused  him  and  returned  to  England,  where  she 
married  Mr.  Chitty  Marshall.  Colonel  Romney  commissioned  his  brother  to 
paint  her  portrait,  about  1788,  and  gave  it  to  her  as  a  wedding  present. 
It  was  exhibited  in  the  Winter  Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy,  1892, 
No.  135,  a  half-length  seated  figure,  in  a  white  dress  and  blue  sash  and  ribbons, 
the  head  turned  to  the  left,  her  hands  clasped  in  front,  and  her  fair  hair  falling 
on  her  shoulders.  It  has  been  well  photographed  recently  by  Messrs.  Braun 
and  Co. 

The  Colonel  left  India  in  1802,  and  reached  home  in  time  to  see  his  brother 
alive,  but  rapidly  sinking,  and  in  a  childish  condition.  He  visited  Hayley,  and 
promised  his  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  the  Life,  but  his  own  death  at  Bath 
in  1807  frustrated  this  plan.  He  was  buried  in  Bath  Abbey  on  October  28th. 
'  He  died  without  the  least  pain  or  effort  and  it  was  known  to  those  who  were  in 
the  room  by  one  sigh  :  a  few  minutes  before,  he  had  said,  that  he  felt  sleepy  and 
would  take  a  nap.  For  many  Months  he  never  had  been  in  bed,  but  reposed  on  the 
Sofa  in  his  Cloathes,  as  he  was  wholly  unable  to  lie  down,  so  that  it  appears  to  have 
been  a  happy  Release.  ...  A  letter  arrived  a  few  days  ago  from  Mrs.  West  which 
I  have  not  opened  and  shall  deliver  to  you.  It  appears  by  her  writing  to  him  that 
she  is  unacquainted  with  the  late  Event,  but  it  will  perhaps  be  now  as  well  not  to 
say  anything  to  her  about  it  till  my  Return.  You  are  of  course  acquainted  with 
her  situation  with  regard  to  the  Colonel.1 1 

1  Letter  from  Mr.  William  Crutenden  to  Mr.  Tennant  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Lawrence 
Romney. 


G.  R. — 25 


385 


APPENDIX  II 


HONORA  SNEYD  AND  THE  '  SERENA 1  PICTURES 

The  original  source  of  the  legend  that  Romney's  various  pictures  of  '  Serena 
Reading'  are  portraits  of  Honora  Sneyd,  may  be  traced  to  a  letter  from  Miss 
Seward  to  Mrs.  M.  Powys,  included  in  her  published  correspondence,  written  on 
September  22nd,  1792,  immediately  after  she  had  received  an  unexpected  visit  from 
Lovell  Edge  worth,  Honora's  only  son ;  together  with  other  letters  from  the  poetess 
to  the  '  Ladies  of  Llangollen.''  She  was  much  overcome  by  the  meeting :  '  What 
a  new  and  impetuous  sensation  did  I  that  instant  feel ! — Strong  and  tender  affection 
rushing  upon  my  heai't  for  one  whom,  the  preceding  moment,  I  had  considered  as 
a  stranger.  With  an  involuntary  emotion,  I  seized  his  hands,  the  tears  starting 
into  my  eyes, — and  I  exclaimed,  Good  God  !  do  I  indeed  see  before  me  the  only 
child  of  my  dear  Honora. 

4  When  I  had  composed  myself  a  little,  I  walked  with  him  over  the  house,  which 
had  been  the  home,  and  she  often  called  it  the  happy  home,  of  his  mother's  infancy 
and  youth.  I  shewed  him  those  apartments  in  which  she  grew,  she  bloomed,  and 
which  yet  seem  so  full  of  her.  He  appeared  interested  in  examining  them.  I 
directed  his  attention  to  the  paper  profile,  in  miniature,  of  her,  reduced  by  your 
hand,  and  to  the  print  of  Romney's  Serena,  which  appears  to  me  exactly  what  she 
was  at  sixteen.' 

Throughout  Miss  Seward's  letters  the  references  to  Honora  are  continual,  and 
in  more  than  one  of  them  she  states  very  distinctly  that  the  resemblance  between 
the  second  Mrs.  R.  L.  Edgeworth  and  Serena  was  purely  accidental.  In  1797,  she 
procured,  after  some  trouble,  one  of  the  Serena  engravings  to  send  to  her  friends 
the  *  Ladies  of  Llangollen.'  In  writing  to  Miss  Ponsonby  on  October  30th  of  that 
year,  she  says  : — 

'  I  have  been  fortunate  enough  in  procuring  another  copy  of  Romney's  Serena,, 
which  I  mentioned  to  you  as  having  accidentally  formed  a  perfect  similitude  of  my 
lost  Honora  Sneyd's  face  and  figure,  when  she  was  serenely  perusing  the  printed 
and  unimpassioned  thoughts  of  others.  To  the  varying  glories  of  her  countenance, 
when  she  was  expressing  her  own,  or  listening  to  the  effusions  of  genius,  no  pencil 
could  do  justice.  But  that  sweet,  that  sacred  decency,  that  reserved  dignity  of 
virgin  grace,  which  characterized  her  look  and  air,  when  her  thoughts  were  tranquil, 
live  in  this  dear  portrait,  while  the  turn  of  the  head  and  neck,  and  every  feature, 
reflect  hers,  as  in  a  mirror. 

'  The  plate  is  now  become  so  scarce,  that  fortune  has  singularly  favoured  my 
386 


APPENDIX  II 


attempts.  It  was  procured  in  the  country,  and  will  be  sent  to  London  to  be 
framed  ere  it  travels  to  Langollen.  The  lively  interest  which  you  have  each  taken 
in  her  idea,  excites  my  fervent  wish  that  you  should  behold  her  as  she  was,  in  a 
lovely  work  of  art,  which  recalls  her  image 

"  From  the  dark  shadows  of  o'erwhelming  years, 
In  colours  fresh,  originally  bright." 

'  Yes,  I  am  ambitious  that  her  form  should  be  enshrined  in  the  receptacle  of 
grace  and  beauty,  and  appear  there  distinctly  as  those  of  Lady  E.  Butler  and 
Miss  Ponsonby  are  engraven  on  the  memory  and  on  the  heart  of  their  faithful,'  etc. 

She  writes  again  some  months  later,  on  June  4th,  1798,  to  Lady  Eleanor 
Butler  :— 

'Every  line  in  that  engraving  bears  her  stamp  and  image,  except  those  which, 
in  a  luckless  moment,  combined  to  attach  the  foot  of  a  plough-boy  to  a  form  in 
every  other  point  so  beautiful.  .  .  .  Honora  Sneyd,  after  she  became  Mrs.  Edge- 
worth,  sat  to  Smart,  at  that  time  a  celebrated  miniature-painter.  He  totally 
missed  the  likeness,  which  Major  Andre  has,  from  his  then  inexperience  in  the  art, 
so  faintly,  and  with  so  little  justice  to  her  beauty,  caught.  Romney  accidentally, 
and  without  having  ever  beheld  her,  produced  it  completely.  Yes,  he  drew,  to 
represent  the  Serena  of  the  Triumphs  of  Temper,  his  own  abstract  idea  of  perfect 
loveliness,  and  the  form  and  the  face  of  Honora  Sneyd  rose  beneath  his  pencil. 
Few  circumstances  have  proved  so  fortunate  for  the  indulgence  of  my  heart  as  this 
accidental  resemblance.''    (The  italics  are  not  Miss  Seward's.) 

Again  in  the  following  year,  in  writing  to  Mrs.  M.  Powys,  October  17th, 
1799 :— 

'  I  have  shewn  you  the  tinted  print  from  Romney's  fine  picture  of  Serena  in 
the  Triumphs  of  Temper,  and  which  bears  such  perfect,  though  accidental,  resem- 
blance to  Honora,  when  she  was  in  the  glory  of  her  virgin  graces.  It  is  in  the  very 
posture  in  which  she  often  sat  reading  before  she  went  to  rest — so  used  she  to  fold 
her  night-robe  around  her  lovely  limbs.  The  luxury  of  mournful  delight  with 
which  I  continually  gaze  upon  that  form,  is  one  of  the  most  precious  comforts  of 
my  life.1 

There  is  no  need  to  multiply  instances.  Anna  Seward,  the  personal  friend  of 
Romney,  and  intimate  with  even  the  smallest  incidents  of  Honora's  life,  could  not 
possibly  have  made  a  mistake  on  so  important  an  event  as  a  sitting  to  one  of  the 
leading  painters  of  the  day,  and  the  legend  must  be  regarded  as  having  no  founda- 
tion in  truth.  The  engraving,  which  she  sent  to  the  Ladies  of  Llangollen,  with 
'  Such  was  Honora  Sneyd  ! 1  inscribed  upon  the  frame,  is  the  one  by  J.  R.  Smith  in 
which  Serena  is  represented  in  profile,  reading  by  candle-light  near  a  window  through 
which  the  breaking  dawn  can  be  seen,  and  not  the  still  more  beautiful  picture 
illustrated  here  (see  Frontispiece) ;  and  it  was,  no  doubt,  this  very  inscription  which 
was  one  of  the  original  causes  of  the  whole  mistake. 

The  evidence  of  date,  too,  points  to  the  impossibility  of  the  legend.  Hayley 
wrote  the  Triumphs  of  Temper  in  1780.  He  had  finished  three  cantos  of  the  poem 
before   Romney  left  Eartham,  and  the  whole  was  finished  by  Christmas,  and 


387 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


published  in  the  following  year.  Its  success  was  instantaneous,  and  it  was  by  far 
the  most  universally  read  of  all  Hayley's  effusions.  There  is  every  probability  that 
Roraney  painted  at  least  the  first  of  his  '  Serenas1  during  this  autumn  visit  of  1780, 
and  very  possibly  the  unnamed  young  lady 1  then  drifting  into  a  '  connubial  attach- 
ment,'' who  was  staying  at  Eartham,  may  have  been  his  model. 

Honora  Sneyd  died  in  the  spring  of  1780.  She  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Seward  household  from  the  age  of  five  until  within  two  years  of  her  marriage  in 
1773.  She  was  eight  years  younger  than  Anna,  her  cousin,  and  was,  says  the  latter, 
'  more  lovely,  more  amiable,  more  interesting  than  any-thing  I  ever  saw  in  the 
female  form.  As  a  child,  I  had  loved  her  with  the  extremest  fondness.  Death  had 
deprived  me  of  my  beloved  and  only  sister,  in  the  bloom  of  her  youth,  who  had  shared 
with  me  the  delightful  task  of  instructing  our  angelic  pupil ;  and,  when  disappointed 
love  threw  all  the  energies  of  my  soul  into  the  channel  of  friendship,  Honora  was  its 
chief  object.  The  charms  of  her  society,  when  her  advancing  youth  gave  equality 
to  our  connection,  made  Lichfield  an  Edenic  scene  to  me,  from  the  year  1766  to 
1771.  Her  father2  then  recalled  her  to  his  own  family,  after  having  been  fourteen 
years  resident  in  ours.  The  domestic  separation  proved  very  grievous ;  but  still 
she  was  in  the  same  town  ;  we  were  often  together,  and  her  heart  was  unchanged.  .  .  . 
In  May  1773  she  married.  Ah  !  how  deeply  was  I  a  fellow-sufferer  with  Major  Andre 
on  this  marriage  ! — but  her  attachment  to  him  had  never  the  tenderness  of  her  friend- 
ship for  me;  it  was  a  mere  compound  of  gratitude  and  esteem,  of  which  his  letters 
shew  that  he  was  always  aware.    We  both  lost  her  for  ever.1 

This  attractive  young  lady  gathered  admirers  ai'ound  her  wherever  she  went 
before  she  became  the  second  of  the  four  wives  of  Richard  Lovell  Edgeworth.  In 
addition  to  the  ill-fated  Major  Andre,  his  successor  in  the  post  of  Adjutant-General 
to  the  British  forces  in  America,  Colonel  Barry,  succumbed  to  her  charms.  That 
eccentric  genius,  Thomas  Day,  author  of  Sandford  and  Merton,  offered  her  his 
hand,  and,  being  refused,  proposed  to  her  sister  Elizabeth,  who  afterwards  became 
Edgeworth1  s  third  wife;  and  in  1770  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  when  attending  the 
festivities  of  Lichfield  race-week,  was  so  attentive  as  to  cause  flutterings  in  the 
Seward  household.  Edgeworth,  who  ran  away  with  his  first  wife  to  Gretna  Green, 
was  unhappy  in  his  marriage,  and  fell  in  love  with  Honora  during  a  long  visit  to 
Dr.  Darwin.  He  fled  from  temptation  to  France,  but  hastened  back  in  1773,  on 
hearing  of  the  death  of  his  wife,  and  married  Miss  Sneyd  four  months  later,  taking 
her  to  Edgeworthstown,  his  home  in  Ireland.  Three  years  later,  in  1776,  he 
brought  her  to  England,  renting  a  small  house  at  Northchurch,  in  Hertfordshire, 
near  Great  Berkhampstead,  where  they  spent  two  or  three  years  in  retirement, 
studying  literature  and  the  arts,  with  occasional  visits  to  London,  twenty-five  miles 
away.  Honora  never  returned  to  Ireland,  as  on  the  eve  of  departure  in  1779  she 
was  seized  with  the  fatal  illness  which  carried  her  off  early  in  the  following  year. 
She  died  at  Bigherton,  near  Shiffnal,  and  was  buried  at  King^  Weston. 

It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  as  she  died  before  Hayley  began  to  write  his  poem, 
she  could  not  have  sat  to  Romney  for  its  heroine.    During  her  residence  at  North- 

1  See  page  99. 

2  Edward  Sneyd,  youngest  son  of  Ralph  Sneyd,  of  Bishton,  Staffordshire. 


388 


APPENDIX  II 


church,  between  1776  and  1779,  there  would  have  been  opportunities  for  her,  had 
she  wished  it,  to  sit  to  him  for  her  portrait  as  Mrs.  Edgeworth;  but  if  she  had 
done  so,  it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  Miss  Seward  would  have  been  well  aware 
of  it,  and  would  have  mentioned  it  in  one  of  her  numerous  letters  referring  to 
Honora  or  the  artist.  All  the  evidence,  indeed,  points  to  the  fact  that  Romney 
never  saw  her. 

Romney  painted  her  cousin  Charlotte,  daughter  of  Ralph  Sneyd,  of  Keele, 
Staffordshire,  who  married  Mr.  Davies  Davenport,  of  Capesthorne,  in  1777.  This 
is  the  very  beautiful  portrait  which  has  been  already  described.1 

Eight  months  after  Honora's  death  Edgeworth  married,  at  her  dying  request, 
her  sister  Elizabeth,  though  he  believed  her  to  be  utterly  unsuited  to  him,  and  he 
liked  her  less  than  any  of  her  sisters.  The  marriage,  however,  turned  out  to  be  a 
great  success,  and  when  she  in  her  turn  died  in  1797,  her  husband,  then  past  fifty, 
was  still  so  enamoured  of  the  charms  of  matrimony  that,  six  months  later,  he  led  a 
Miss  Beaufort  to  the  altar.  This  union,  again,  turned  out  as  happily  as  the  two 
earlier  ones. 

1  See  page  304. 


389 


APPENDIX  III 


LIST  OF  MODERN  ENGRAVINGS  AFTER  GEORGE 

ROMNEY 

COMPILED  BY  MR.  ERNEST  H.  HARE 

Acton,  Mrs.  Lee. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater;  15  in.  x  24  in.    Published  January  1901. 

Austen,  Lady.    ('  Lavinia.'1) 

Mezzotint,  by  T.  G.  Appleton ;  13  in.  x  17  in.    Published  February  1891. 

Bankes,  Mrs.  (see  Woodley,  Miss  Frances). 

Beauclerk,  Lady  Margaret.    {As  '  Serena.'') 

Mezzotint,  by  W.  Henderson  ;  12^  in.  x  16£  in.    Published  May  11,  1908. 

Beauty  and  the  Arts  (see  Clifden,  Caroline,  Lady). 

Blair,  Mrs. 

Etching,  by  C.  Waltner  ;  19  in.  x  25  in.    Published  May  1904. 

Canning,  Mrs.,  and  Child. 

Mezzotint,  by  S.  E.  Wilson  ;  12J  in.  x  15|  in.    Published  January  3,  1908. 

Carlisle,  Caroline,  Countess  ok. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  T.  Greenhead  ;  13  in.  x  18  in.    Published  September  1898. 
(Mezzotint,  by  James  Walker,  1781.) 

Clifden,  Caroline,  Lady,  and  Spencer,  Lady  E.    ('  Beauty  and  the  Arts?) 
Mezzotint,  by  H.  T.  Greenhead  ;  29  in.  x  23  in.    Published  April  1894. 

Clive,  Hon.  Charlotte. 

Mezzotint,  by  D.  A.  Wehrschmidt ;  11^  in.  x  15  in.    Published  May  1893. 

Close,  Miss  (afterwards  Mrs.  Mark  Currie). 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  T.  Greenhead  ;  20  in.  x  16  in.    Published  April  1894. 

Cooke,  Mrs.  Bryan. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  T.  Greenhead ;  16  in.  x  20  in.    Published  December  1896. 
390 


APPENDIX  III 


Ciespigny,  Mrs.  De. 

Mezzotint,  by  W.  Henderson  ;  15  in.  x  19  in.    Published  June  1903. 

Cumberland,  Albinia,  Lady. 

Mezzotint,  by  Mrs.  M.  Cormack  ;  16J  in.  x  20  in.    Published  September  1890. 

Currie,  Mrs.  Mark  (see  Close,  Miss). 

Dawson,  Mrs. 

Mezzotint,  by  Miss  G.  Dale  ;  18  in.  x  23  in.    Published  April  1894. 

Day,  Lady  (Miss  Benedetto,  Ramus). 

Mezzotint,  by  Mrs.  M.  Cormack  ;  16£  in.  x  19j  in.    Published  January  1895. 
(Mezzotint,  by  William  Dickinson,  1779.) 

Derby,  Elizabeth,  Countess  of. 

Mezzotint,  by  Mrs.  M.  Cormack  ;  17  in.  x  21  in.    Published  June  1898. 
Mezzotint,  by  G.  H.  Every  ;  13  in.  x  17  in.    Published  September  1898. 
{Mezzotint,  by  John  Dean,  1780.) 

'  Duchess,  The.1 

Mezzotint,  by  Miss  E.  Milner  ;  11  in.  x  21  in.    Published  November  1903. 

Duncombe,  Lady  Charlotte. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater ;  15  in.  x  18  in.    Published  March  1900. 

Glyn,  Mrs. 

Mezzotint,  by  J.  B.  Pratt ;  14  in.  x  18  in.    Published  March  1901. 

Gordon,  Duchess  of. 

Mezzotint,  by  J.  B.  Pratt;  17  in.  x  22  in.    Published  May  1902. 

Gower  Children.    (Five  of  the  children  of  Granville,  second  Earl  Goxver,  afterwards 

first  Marquis  of  Stafford.) 

Mezzotint,  by  T.  G.  Appleton  ;  24  in.  x  21  in.    Published  January  1902. 
(Mezzotint,  by  J.  R.  Smith,  1781.) 

Grove,  Mrs. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater;  15  in  x  19  in.    Published  September  1898. 

Hamilton,  Lady  (Emma  Hart). 

Mezzotint,  by  R.  W.  Hester ;  15|  in.  x  19  in.    Published  February  1903. 


Mezzotint,  by  A.  Hewlett ;  12  in.  x  14  in.    Published  March  3,  1908. 

-  (The  Ambassadress.) 

Mezzotint,  by  T.  G.  Appleton  ;  17  in.  x  22  in.    Published  October  1904. 

-  (As  Ariadne.) 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  T.  Greenhead  ;  15  in.  x  19  in.    Published  June  1895. 

391 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Hamilton,  Lady  (Emma  Hart).    (As  a  Bacchante.) 

Mezzotint,  by  N.  Kenealy  ;  7s  in.  x  9§  ^n->  oval.    Published  January  1890. 

  (As  a  Bacchante.) 

Mezzotint,  by  T.  G.  Appleton  ;  17  in.  x  21  in.    Published  April  1902. 

  (As  a  Bacchante.) 

Mezzotint,  by  N.  Hirst ;  12  in  x  15  in.    Published  January  1903. 

  (As  a  Bacchante.) 

Stipple,  by  E.  Tily  ;  9J  in.  x  13£  in.    Published  March  21,  1906. 

 ■    (In  a  Black  Hat.) 

Mezzotint,  by  E.  Stamp  ;  15  in.  x  19  in.    Published  June  1902. 

  (As  Cassandra.) 

Mezzotint,  by  E.  L.  Haynes  ;  14  in.  x  19  in.    Published  November  1901. 

  (As  Cassandra.) 

Mezzotint,  by  E.  Bird  ;  9j  in.  x  9J  in.    Published  November  19,  1908. 

  (As  Circe.) 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater  ;  14^  in.  x  23  in.    Published  May  1894. 

  (As  Contemplation.) 

Mezzotint,  by  D.  A.  Wehrschmidt ;  15|  in.  x  19  in.,  oval.    Published  1897. 

  (As  Daphne.) 

Mezzotint,  by  J.  \V.  Chapman ;  17  in.  x  21  in.    Published  November  1894. 

  (Emma.) 

Mezzotint,  by  G.  Zobel ;  9  in.  x  11  in.    Published  February  1876. 

  (Emma.) 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater ;  8  in.  x  9J  in.    Published  November  1895. 

  (As  Euphrosyne.) 

Mezzotint,  by  G.  S.  Shury  ;  10  in.  x  12  in.    Published  May  1878. 

  (As  Joan  of  Arc.) 

Mezzotint,  by  Norman  Hirst ;  7  in.  x  9  in.    Published  August  1901. 

  (As  Miranda.) 

Mezzotint,  by  C.  Tomkins ;  7  in.  x  9  in.    Published  September  1896. 

  (As  Mirth.) 

Mezzotint,  by  J.  B.  Pratt ;  14|  in.  x  18  in.    Published  September  18,  1905. 

  (As  Nature.) 

Mezzotint,  by  Mrs.  M.  Cormack  ;  16f  in.  x  19|  in.    Published  December  1891. 
392 


APPENDIX  III 

Hamilton  Lady  (Emma  Hart).    {As  Nature.) 

Mezzotint,  by  S.  E.  Wilson  ;  10  in.  x  12  in.    Published  April  18,  1907. 

  {As  Nature.) 

Mezzotint,  by  Fred  Miller ;  8  in.  x  10  in. 

  {At  Prayer.) 

Mezzotint,  by  Norman  Hirst ;  9  in.  x  12  in.    Published  June  1904. 

  {At  Prayer.) 

Mezzotint,  by  E.  L.  Haynes  ;  16f  in.  x  17f  in.    Published  March  20,  1906. 

  {As  the  Seamstress.) 

Stipple,  by  J.  Brown  ;  10  in.  x  14  in.    Published  May  1882. 
This  is  a  portrait  of  Miss  Lucy  Vernon  (see  page  118). 

  {Reading.) 

Stipple,  by  F.  Holl,  A.R.A.  ;  10  in.  x  13  in.    Published  February  1878. 

 {As  Sensibility.) 

Mezzotint,  by  J.  W.  Chapman  ;  17  in.  x  21  in.    Published  November  1894. 

  {As  Sensibility.) 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  T.  Greenhead  ;  16  in.  x  20  in.    Published  September  1898. 

  {As  a  Shepherdess.) 

Mezzotint,  by  T.  G.  Appleton  ;  30  in.  x  24  in.    Published  February  1905. 
This  is  not  a  portrait  of  Lady  Hamilton  (see  page  134). 

  {At  the  Spinning  Wheel.) 

Stipple  and  Etching,  by  C.  H.  Jeens  ;  10  in.  x  14  in.    Published  February  1876. 

  {At  the  Spinning  Wheel.) 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  T.  Greenhead  ;  15  in.  x  21  in.    Published  September  1898. 

  {At  the  Spinning  Wheel.) 

Stipple,  by  E.  Tily  ;  7£  in.  x  10£  in.    Published  July  22,  1908. 

  {Supplication.) 

Mezzotint,  by  T.  G.  Appleton  ;  15  in.  x  18  in.    Published  April  1903. 

  {As  Venus.) 

Stipple,  by  Wallace  Hester  ;  12f  in.  x  19|  in.    Published  May  22,  1907. 

  {When  Young.) 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  T.  Greenhead  ;  16  in.  x  17  in.    Published  June  1895. 

  {From  the  Study  in  the  National  Gallery,  No.  1668.) 

Mezzotint,  by  J.  Protheroe  ;  17  in.  x  21  in.    Published  October  1903. 

Hamilton,  Lady  Isabella. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Sedcole  ;  14  in.  x  23  in.    Published  November  1898. 

393 


GEORGE  ROMNEY 


Harrow  Gipsy,  A. 

Mezzotint,  by  Miss  E.  Milner;  9  in.  x  11  in.    Published  November  1899. 

Jordan,  Mrs. 

Mezzotint,  by  T.  G.  Appleton  ;  16  in.  x  20  in.    Published  September  1904. 
'  Lady,  My.' 

Mezzotint,  by  Miss  E.  Milner ;  17  in.  x  21§  in.    Published  March  14,  1907. 

Lavinia  (see  Lady  Austen). 

Maitland,  Miss  Lillie. 

Mezzotint,  by  F.  G.  Stevenson  ;  6§  in.  x  9£  in.    Published  February  24,  1908. 

Mansfield,  Louisa  Cathcart,  Countess  of  {see  Stormont,  Lady  Louisa). 

Marlrorough,  Caroline,  Duchess  of. 

Mezzotint,  by  A.  C.  Coppier  ;  14j  in.  x  23|  in.    Published  July  30,  1907. 
(Mezzotint,  by  John  Jones,  1791.) 

Maternal  Love.    (Portrait  of  a  Lady  and  Child  in  the  National  Gallery.) 
Etching,  by  F.  Laguillermie  ;  16  in.  x  21  in.    Published  September  1904. 

Milner,  Lady. 

Mezzotint,  by  W.  Henderson  ;  14  in.  x  23  in.    Published  November  1896. 

Milnes,  Charlotte  Frances  Bentinck,  Lady. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater ;  14  in.  x  23  in.    Published  June  1899. 

Monson,  Lady. 

Mezzotint,  by  Norman  Hirst ;  16  in.  x  24j  in.    Published  October  31,  1906. 

Newrery,  Mrs. 

Mezzotint,  by  Miss  E.  Milner  ;  14  in.  x  18  in.    Published  May  1905. 

Parson's  Daughter,  The.    (The  Picture  in  the  National  Gallery.) 

Mezzotint,  by  G.  Robinson  ;  13  in.  x  14  in.,  oval.    Published  November  1888. 

Pitt,  Mrs.  Ann.    (Impersonating  Lady  Hamilton  as  '  Mirth.'') 
Mezzotint,  by  W.  Henderson  ;  14  in.  x  18  in.    Published  March  1903. 

Poulett,  Lady. 

Mezzotint,  by  W.  Henderson  ;  14  in.  x  23  in.    Published  March  1897. 
Mezzotint,  by  Norman  Hirst ;  16  in.  x  20  in.    Published  November  1900. 

Ramus,  Miss  Benedetta  (see  Lady  Day). 

Raikes,  Mrs. 

Mezzotint,  by  T.  G.  Appleton  ;  16  in.  x  21  in.    Published  September  1904. 

Robinson,  Mrs.  (Perdita.) 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater  ;  12  in.  x  16  in.    Published  February  1897. 

394 


APPENDIX  III 


Rohinson,  Mrs. 

Mixed,  by  Sir  F.  Seymour  Haden  ;  9  in.  x  lOf  in.,  oval.    Published  November  1876. 

Ruck,  Miss  Mary. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Macbeth-Raeburn  ;  14  in.  x  17  in.    Published  December  1904. 

Russell,  Lady,  and  Child. 

Mezzotint,  by  R.  B.  Parkes ;  13  in.  x  17  in.    Published  November  1878. 

Schultz,  Miss. 

Mezzotint,  by  R.  W.  Macbeth,  R.A.  ;  15  in.  x  18  in.    Published  March  1901. 
Serena  (see  Beauclerk,  Lady  Margaret). 
Sligo,  Lady. 

Mezzotint,  by  G.  Robinson  ;  13  in.  x  14  in.,  oval.    Published  July  1896. 

Smyth,  Mrs.  Caumichael. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater ;  14  in.  x  16  in.    Published  April  1903. 

Spencer,  the  Ladies  (see  Clifden,  Lady  C,  etc.). 

Stafford  Family  (see  Gower  Children). 

Stanley,  Mrs. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater  ;  15  in.  x  18f  in.    Published  April  4,  190G. 

Stewart,  Lady. 

Mezzotint,  by  J.  Cother  Webb  ;  14  in.  x  16  in.    Published  October  1900. 

Stormont,  Lady  Louisa  (Countess  of  Mansfield). 

Mezzotint,  by  T.  G.  Appleton  ;  19  in.  x  24  in.    Published  October  1889. 
(Mezzotint,  by  J.  R.  Smith,  1780.) 

Sullivan,  Lady. 

Mezzotint,  by  R.  B.  Parkes  ;  13  in.  x  17  in.    Published  October  1877. 

Sutherland,  Duchess-Countess  of. 

Mezzotint,  by  W.  Henderson  ;  16  in.  x  19  in.    Published  January  1902. 

Thornhill,  Master.    ('  Rustic  Meditation?) 

Mezzotint,  by  J.  Scott ;  11  in.  x  15  in.    Published  June  1882. 

Tickell,  Mrs. 

Mezzotint,  by  J.  B.  Pratt ;  14  in.  x  17  in.   Published  October  1900. 

Mezzotint,  by  T.  G.  Appleton ;  15  in.  x  19  in.    Published  August  1903. 

Townshend,  Lady. 

Mezzotint,  by  T.  G.  Appleton  ;  15  in.  x  19  in.    Published  September  1903. 

Trotter,  Mrs.,  of  Bush. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater ;  14  in.  x  16  in.    Published  October  1901. 

395 


GEORGE  ROM  NEY 

Vernon,  Miss  Lucy  (see  Lady  Hamilton  as  the  Seamstress). 

Vernon  Children. 

Mezzotint,  by  J.  B.  Pratt ;  17  in.  x  21f  in.    Published  February  22,  1906. 

Ward,  Lady  Arabella. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater  ;  14  in.  x  16  in.    Published  June  1903. 

Ward,  Mrs.  Townley. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater  ;  15  in.  x  23  in.    Published  June  1898. 

Warren,  Mks.  Ann. 

Mezzotint,  by  W.  Henderson  ;  13$  in.  x  17^  in.    Published  July  25,  1907. 

Warwick,  Henrietta,  Countess  of. 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater ;  14  in.  x  17  in.    Published  September  1897- 

Whatman,  Mrs. 

Mezzotint,  by  Miss  E.  Gulland  ;  9  in.  x  11  in.    Published  April  1901. 

Woodley,  Miss  Frances  (Mrs.  Bankes). 

Mezzotint,  by  H.  Scott  Bridgwater ;  14  in.  x  20  in.    Published  September  1895. 
(Mezzotint,  by  James  Walker,  1781.) 


396 


INDEX 


Abbot,  Mary  (Romney's  wife).  See  Mrs.  George 
Romney. 

  Mrs.  (Romney's  mother-in-law),  21,  26, 

383. 

Abbott,  F.  Lemuel  (portrait  painter),  176,  177, 
178. 

Abercorn,  Marquis  of,  163,  166. 
Aberdeen,  University  of,  192. 
Academy  of  France,  36. 

■         of  Painting,  Bologna,  73. 

Acton,  Nathaniel  Lee,  321. 
Adam,  a  Drama  (W.  Cowper),  179 
Addison,  121. 
Adelphi,  81,  104. 
'  Admiral  of  the  Blues,'  198. 
Admiralty,  Board  of,  108. 
Aeschylus,  97,  195,  360. 
Afflicted  Father  (  W  Haylev),  84. 
Agnew  and  Sons,  Messrs.  f .,  127,  177,  191,  308, 
325,  331. 

 Winter  Exhibitions  (1901),  311 ;  (1904), 

314;  (1905),  300,  306,  308,  311,  334; 
(1906),  299,  300,  306. 

Ailesbury,  Lady,  163. 

Ainslie,  Dr.  Henry,  71,  194. 

Aiton,  Mr.  (Royal  Gardener),  311. 

Aix,  64. 

Albans,  Mr.  (at  Mentone),  65. 
Alcestis  (trans.  Dr.  Potter),  97. 
Alfieri,  Count,  246. 

Amelia,  H.R.H.  Princess  (daughter  of  George 

in.),  324. 
America  (Anna  Seward),  154. 
Anderdon,  J.  H.,  Sale  (1879),  4,  229. 
Andre',  Major,  154,  387,  388. 
Andreini's  Adamo,  179,  183. 
Angelico,  Fra,  257. 

Angelo,  Michael,  65.  70,  71,  73,  74,  154,  176, 

197,  251,  290. 
Anspach,  Caroline  of,  328. 

  Margrave  of,  328. 

■ — -  Margravine  of,  107,  327-30. 
Antibes,  64. 
Antigua,  10,  381,  382. 
Antrobus,  Edmund,  99. 
Appleby,  7,  9. 

Appleton,  T.  G.  (engraver),  390-5. 
Apuleius  (Cupid  and  Psyche),  90,  355. 
Arbury,  273-5. 

Arithmetic,  a  Rational  and  Practical  Treatise 

(Cockin),  220. 
Armstrong,  Sir  Walter,  203. 


Arnold,  129. 

Artaud,  William  (portrait  painter),  38. 
Art  of  Delivering  Written  Language  (Cockin), 
220. 

Art's  Masterpiece,  14. 
Arundel  (R.  Cumberland),  59. 
Arundel,  87. 

Astley,  John  (painter),  261. 

Aston  Hall,  Birmingham,  306. 

Athenceum,  178,  186,  315. 

Atherstone  Hall,  306. 

'Attitudes'  (Lady's  Hamilton's),  109,  163. 

Aubert,  Mr.  (at  Nice),  64,  65. 

Avignon,  63,  64. 

Bacchae  (trans.  Dr.  Potter),  97. 
Bacon,  John,  R.A.  (sculptor),  38. 
Bagnigge  W ells,  246. 
Baldwin  and  Cradock  (publishers),  244. 
Ball,  Miss  Eliza.    See  Mrs.  Hayley. 
  Rev.  Thomas,  84. 

Ballads  (about  Animals),  A  Series  of  (W.  Hayley), 

224  and  note. 
Banks,  Thomas,  R.A.  (sculptor)  38,  68,  147. 
Barnard's  Inn,  148. 
Baroccio,  Federigo,  231. 
Barret,  Miss  M.  (painter),  278-9. 

  George,  jun.  (painter),  278. 

Barron,  Hugh  (portrait  painter),  68. 
Barrow,  12,  13,  228. 

  Family  (Ulverston),  382. 

  Sir  John,  383. 

  Thomas  (painter),  279. 

Barry,  Colonel,  388. 

  James,  R.A.,  72,  81. 

  Rev.  Dr.  Edward,  166. 

Bartolozzi,  Francisco,  R.A.,  98,  279. 
Bateman,  Rev.  Dr.  (of  Sedbergh  School),  28. 
Bath,  169,  170,  287,  385. 
Bath  Abbey,  11,  200,  385. 
Bearbinder's  Lane  (Romney's  lodgings),  42. 
'  Beau  '  (Cowper's  dog),  174,  177. 
Beauchamp,  William,  second  Earl,  130. 
Beauelerk,  Lady  Margaret,  123. 
Beaufort,  Duchess  of,  270. 

 •  Miss  (R.  L.  Edgeworth's  fourth  wife),  389. 

Beauties  of  Anna  Seward,  154. 

Beckett,  E.  W.  ,  Sale  (1903),  125. 

Beckford,  William,  of  Fouthill,  163,  189,  190 

196,  215. 
Beckside,  9,  12. 

Beechey,  Sir  William,  R.A.,  5,  200,  277. 

397 


GEORGE 


ROMNEY 


Beef-steak  Club,  213. 
Belfast,  276. 

Bentinck,  Lord  E.  Cavendish,  304. 
Berghem,  Nicolaas,  31,  282. 
Berkeley,  fourth  Earl  of,  328. 
Berridge,  John  (portrait  painter),  129. 
Bewick,  Thomas  (wood  engraver),  38. 
Bird,  E.  (engraver),  392. 

Birmingham  Art  Gallery,  116,  131,  135,  231, 

275,  288  and  note,  302,  306-7-8,  319,  332. 
Black  and  White,  227-8. 
Black  Combe,  12. 

Blake,  William,  85,  128,  176,  224  and  note; 
collects  materials  for  Hayley's  Life  of 
Romney,  235-40;  engraves  a  portrait  of 
Romney,  236-8,  241 ;  engraves  Romney's 
'Shipwreck,'  241-3;  engraves  portrait  of 
Cowper  after  Lawrence,  241-3;  247,  279, 
341,  344-5,  350,  363,  365,  367. 

Blake,  Letters  of  (Russell),  235. 

  Life  of  (Gilchrist),  235. 

Blanchard's  Academy,  Nottingham,  219. 

'  Bognor,  Knight  of,'  175. 

Bologna,  73,  75-6,  290. 

Bolton,  Lord,  57,  94. 

  Mere  Hall  Museum,  351. 

Book  for  a  Rainy  Day  (J.  T.  Smith),  103. 

Bootle  family  portraits,  294-6. 

  R.  W.,  155  note. 

Borghese  Palace,  Rome,  76. 

Bosanquet  Family,  200. 

  Jacob,  200,  306. 

Boswell,  James,  41. 

Bowness,  30. 

Boydell,  Alderman,  58,  103,  115,  140-7,  156, 

170,  172-3,  184,  239,  350,  352. 
Boydell,  Josiah,  140. 
Boydell's  Sale,  146-7,  171. 
Braddyll,  Mr.,  of  Conishead  Priory,  29 
Bradford,  384. 

Bradford,  Samuel,  of  Lancaster,  381-2. 
Bragg,  Thomas  (engraver),  182. 
Braithwaite,  Captain,  28. 

  Daniel,  31,  41-2,  58,  141,  234  note,  237, 

241,  247. 
Braun  et  Cie,  296,  385. 
Bray,  Rev.  Thomas,  335. 
Bretargh  Holt,  228,  284. 

Bridgwater,  H.  Scott  (engraver),  321,  390-2, 

394-6. 
Brierley,  Miss,  384. 
Brignole-Sala  Family,  65. 
Bristol,  Lord,  209. 
British  Institution,  202,  277. 

 Exhibitions,  3,  57,  124. 

British  Museum,  166. 

Brooks,  Mrs.  (Romney's  granddaughter),  228. 
Brome,  Charles  (engraver),  182. 
Brothers,  The  (R.  Cumberland),  52. 
Brown,  J.  (engraver),  393. 
Bryan,  Michael,  147. 

Buckingham  St.,  No.  6,  Fitzroy  Square  (Flax- 
man's  studio),  196. 

398 


Budd,  Dr.,  103,  163. 

Bull,  Mr.  (Cowper's  friend),  177. 

Bunce,  S.  (Romney's  architect),  207-9,  214-6 

Burgoyne,  Montagu,  116,  119. 

  Sir  Roger,  Bt.,  119. 

Burlington  Magazine,  200,  310,  340. 
Burney,  Fanny,  95,  246. 
Burrell,  Sir  Charles,  147,  202. 
Burro wes,  Major,  153. 
Burton-in-Kendal,  58,  219-20. 
Butler,  Lady  Eleanor,  387. 
Butterworth,  Rev.  J.  H.,  156. 
Buttery,  Mr.,  154. 
Butts,  Thomas,  128. 

Cabell,  T.  (publisher),  127. 

Cadogan,  Mrs.  (Lady  Hamilton's  mother),  108, 

137,  224-5. 
Calcutta  Council  Chamber,  47,  351. 
Cambridge,  52-4,  94,  194,  207,  384. 

  Duke  of,  Sale  (1904),  5,  322. 

Camden,  Marquis,  196. 
Camoens  (subjects  from),  98. 
Campbell,  Mr.  Gerald,  172. 
Capel-Cure,  Francis,  Sale  (1905),  322. 
Caravaggio,  Michel  Angiolo  da,  231. 
Carlisle,  Earl  of,  94. 
Carracci,  Lodovico  74-5,  290. 

 The,  73-4,  290. 

Carter  (letter  from  Romney  to),  74. 

Carwardine,  Sale  (1890),  4. 

  Rev.  Thomas,  95,  129,  149,  156,  158-9, 

174,  201,  206-7,  247,  311. 
Carey,  Nance,  170. 

Cary,  Henry  Francis  (translator  of  Dante),  121, 

152. 

Cascatelli,  Tivoli,  72. 
Caserta,  167. 

Castle  Inn,  London  (Romney  stays  at),  35. 
Cavendish,  Lady  Elizabeth,  226-7. 
 Lord  George,  226-7. 

  Square,  No.  37  (Romney's  house),  70, 

81-3,  129,  131,  148,  163,  209-11,  214-5, 
240,  271,  278,  291. 

Cawthorne,  John  Fenton,  286. 

'Celestial  Bed,'  105. 

Chalon-sur-Saone,  63. 

Chambre,  Sir  Alan,  30,  237. 

Chapman,  J.  W.  (engraver),  392-3. 

Charete  (Scuola  della  Carita),  Venice,  76. 

Charlotte,  Queen,  167. 

Chartres,  Duke  of,  158. 

Chatham  Place,  Blackfriars,  103,  163. 

Cheesman,  Thomas,  (engraver),  118,  279,  316. 

Cheney,  Mr.  Edward,  322. 

 General,  322. 

Chichester,  77,  84,  87,  224,  243. 

Child,  Richard,  334. 

Childers,  Mrs.,  329. 

Christie,  Mr.,  40. 

  Manson,  and   Woods,  Messrs.,  Sales, 

(Nelson's  Sale),  116;  (George  Romney 
1801),  225;  (John  Romney,  1807),  230 ; 


INDEX 


(John  Romney,  1834),  233;  (1873),  155, 
301;  (1875),  116;  (1888),  127,  171,  208  ; 
(1880),  301  ;  (1890),  4,  86,  114 ;  (Miss 
Romney,  1894),  228-230 ;  (1894),  272 ; 
(1896),  27,  86,  272;  (1900),  79,  323; 
(1902),  42,  59,  278,  330  ;  (1903),  43,  125, 
358;  (1904),  308,  322;  (1905),  28,  126, 
305,  320,  322,  325  ;  (1906),  155. 

Cimabue,  Giovanni,  73-4,  290. 

Cipriani,  John  Baptist,  R.A.  43,  81. 

Clancarty,  Earl  of,  172. 

Clarence,  Duke  of,  135. 

Clarke,  Rev.  James  Stanier,  215-6,  365. 

 Theophilus  (copyist  after  Romney),  335. 

Claude  Gellee  (de  Lorrain),  87. 

Clement  xiv,  Pope,  71-2. 

Clifden,  Lord,  Sale  (1896),  4. 

 Henry,  second  Viscount,  319  note. 

Clyfford,  (singer),  148. 

 Mrs.,  84,  148. 

Cockin,  William,  55,  219-20,  223,  247,  384. 

'  Coelestina '  (Adam  Walker's),  26. 

Colby,  near  Appleby,  7. 

Colleton,  Colonel,  329. 

Collins,  William,  (poet),  353. 

Colman,  George,  84,  130. 

Colnaghi,  Mr.  M.,  171. 

 and  Co.,  Messrs.,  305,  322. 

Colne  Priory,  near  Yeldham,  95,  149  note,  247, 

311,  318,  332. 
Colonua  Palace,  Rome,  76. 
Colosseum,  Rome,  72. 
'Colossus,'  (ship),  114. 
Colvin,  Mr.  Sidney,  262-3,  303. 
Commerell,  Admiral  Sir  Edmund,  200. 

 John  William,  200. 

Conde,  J.  (engraver),  77- 

Coney  Court,  No.  5,  Gray's  Inn  (Romney's 

lodgings),  50. 
Coniston,  12,  228. 

Connoisseur,  The,  (1905)  265  ;  (1909),  126. 
Constable,  John,  R.A.,  15,  200. 
Conway  Family,  163. 

 Sir  Martin  (on  Romney's  art),  379. 

 Mr.  Moncure  D.  186. 

Cook,  Captain,  84. 
Cooke,  Bryan,  322. 
Cooper,  J.  184. 

 Dr  Thomas  P.,  of  Manchester,  186. 

Coppier,  A.  C.  (engraver),  394. 
Coram,  Captain,  39. 
Cormack,  Mrs.  M.  (engraver),  391-2. 
Corneille's  Rodogune,  84. 

Correggio,  Antonio  Allegri  da,  66,  73,  78,  144, 

171,  206,  248,  290,  353,  372. 
Cosway,  Richard,  R.A.,  39,  47,  105. 
Cotes,  Francis,  R.A.  39,  81,  383. 
Cotton,  Dr.,  98. 
 Mrs.  C,  274. 

Courtenay,  Mrs.  (Cowper's  correspondent),  88. 

 Philip,  Q.C.,  170. 

Covent  Garden  Theatre,  52,  156. 
Cowes,  194. 


Cowper,  General,  174. 
 Lord,  73. 

  William,  2,  85  ;  description  of  Eartham, 

87-8  ;  meets  Romney  at  Eartham  173-179  ; 
Romney  paints  his  portrait,  175-6  ;  other 
portraits  of  Cowper,  177-8  ;  Cowper's  sonnet 
to  Romney,  180-81 ;  182-3, 186-8,  195,  210, 
224-5,  235,  243,  279. 

Cowper,  Life  of,  (W.  Hayley),  176,  178. 

 Life  of,  (Thomas  Wright),  88. 

Craven,  Dr.  207. 

 William,  sixth  Earl  of,  328-9. 

 Lady.    See  Margravine  of  Anspach. 

Crawford,  Mr.  'Fish,'  311. 

Crawfurd,  Mr.  115,  169. 

Critic,  The,  (Sheridan),  52. 

Crutenden,  William,  385  note. 

Cumberland,  (co.),  7,  12,  18,  283. 

Cumberland,  Rev.  Denison,  52. 

  Richard,  2,  13-15,  19,  22,  30,  44-6,  49, 

52-3  ,  letter  to  Romney,  55-6 ;  verses  on 
Romney,  56-7  ;  letters  to  Romney  in  Rome, 
72-3,  80  ;  '  Epistle  to  Romney,'  83 ;  90, 
94-5,  106,  145,  189,  196,  215,  234,  240, 
246-8 ;  on  Romney  and  his  art,  250-3 ; 
255 ;  on  Romney's  unfinished  portraits, 
270 ;  280-1,  304,  366. 

 Bishop  of  Peterborough,  52. 

Cumming,  Lady  Gordon,  324. 

Cunningham,  Allan,  53,  83,  106,  141,  248,  254, 
264,  303  note,  350 ;  on  Romney's  art,  376. 

Cunningham  MSS.,  54. 

'Cupid  and  Psyche,'  (Romney's  cartoons  for), 
90,  355-358. 

Curwen,  John  Christian,  116-7,  124,  170,  267, 

270,  316. 
Cust,  Mr.  Lionel,  177,  343. 

Dale,  Miss  G.  (engraver),  391. 
Dallam  Tower,  27,  283. 

Dalton-in-Furness,  8,  10,  12, 14-17,  226-7,  280, 

382,  384. 
Dalton,  Captain  Thomas,  366. 
Darner,  Lady  Caroline,  305. 

 (painter),  68. 

Dance,  Nathaniel,  R.A.,  81,  261. 
Dante  (Flaxman's  designs),  194. 
Darwin,  Dr.  Erasmus,  388. 
Davenport,  Davies,  304,  389. 
David,  Jacques  Louis  (artist),  158. 
Day,  Sir  John,  301. 
 Thomas,  388. 

Dean,  John  (engraver),  229,  279,  298  note, 
391. 

Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  (Gibbon), 
130. 

Delany,  Mrs.,  201. 
Dendr'on,  12,  14,  49. 
Denhall,  103. 

Denham,  Ann.    See  Mrs.  Flaxman. 

 Maria,  243. 

Derby,  129,  159. 

Descent  of  Odin  (Gray),  363. 

399 


GEORGE 


ROMNEY 


Devonshire,  Duchess  of,  99,  216,  270,  311,  327, 
388. 

Dewes,  Court,  121. 

Dickinson,  William  (engraver),  279,  391. 

Digby,  Hon.  Stephen,  306. 

Dillettanti  Society,  39. 

'  Discovery  '  (Captain  Cook's  ship),  84. 

Dodd,  of  Lichfield,  185. 

Dodsley  (publisher),  90. 

Dominica,  10,  382. 

Domenichino  (Zampieri),  74-5,  290. 

Donegal,  Marquis  of,  216. 

 Marchioness  of,  217- 

Dorset,  Duke  of,  60,  62. 

Dove  Court,  Mr.  Pantry's  (Ilomney's  lodgings), 
42. 

Drinkell,  Alderman,  of  Kendal,  41. 
Drummond,  Lady,  324. 
Drury  Lane  Theatre,  94,  156,  163. 
Dryden,  John,  90,  121,  355. 
Dublin,  24,  276. 

Dublin  Old  Masters'  Exhibition,  (1902)  153, 
276. 

Duddon  Hall,  58. 
Dudman,  R.  (painter),  203. 
Duncannon,  Lady,  327. 

Dunkerton,  Robert  (engraver),  51,  57,  279, 

288. 
Dunkirk,  50. 
Dunlo,  Lord,  172. 
Dutens,  Rev.  Louis,  166,  169. 
Dyce  Collection,  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum, 

125. 

Eari-om,  Richard  (engraver),  116,  279. 

Eartham,  84  ;  description  of  the  house,  87-8 ; 
98-9,  119-23,  127,  131,  133,  148-9,  151, 
155-6,  158-60,  164-5,  169;  Cowper  visits 
there,  174-182  ;  daily  life  there,  183  ;  184, 
187-9,  195,  201-2,  204,  207,  209-10,  215-18  ; 
Romney's  last  visit  there,  222;  228,  245, 
247,  256,  264,  271-2,  277,  302,  318,  332, 
349,  387-8. 

East  India  Company.    See  Hon.  East  India 

Company. 
East  Indies,  183,  333. 
Edgware  Road,  211. 

 Row,  Paddington  Green,  107-8,  168. 

Edgeworth,  Lovell,  386. 

 Richard  Lovell,  388-9. 

 Mrs.  R.  L.  See  Sneyd,  Honora. 

Edward  and  Pamela  Fitzgerald  (Gerald  Camp- 
bell), 172. 

Edwards,  Mr. ,  237-9. 

Egerton,  Lady  Louisa  (Lady  Gower),  96. 

Egremont,  co.  Cumberland,  18. 

Egremont,  Lord,  157,  188,  195,  201-6,  208,  233, 
329. 

'  Eidouranion'  (Adam  Walker's),  26,  156. 
Ellenborough,  Lord,  135,  157. 
Emma,    Lady    Hamilton,    (W.    Sichel),  103, 
316. 

Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  134,  156. 
400 


Engravings  after  George  Romney  (H.  P.  Home), 
279. 

Epistle  to  Romney  (R.  Cumberland),  83. 
Epistles  on  Painting  (W.  Hayley),  121. 
Epistles  to  Romney  (W.  Hayley),  90-1,  97,  355, 
365. 

Essay  on  Friendship  (Cicero),  204. 
Essay  on  Old  Maids  (W.  Hayley),  366. 
Essay  on  the  Doctrine  of  the  Syphon  (Cockin), 
220. 

Essays  on  Epic  Poetry  (W.  Hayley),  121. 
Essex  (fourth),  Earl  of,  299. 
Este,  Rev.  C,  246. 

Eulogy  upon  Romney  (T.  Romney  Robinson), 
276. 

Euripides,  97,  360. 

European  Magazine,  22,  234,  251. 

Evans  (bookseller),  246. 

  William  (engraver),  52. 

Evelina  (Fanny  Burney),  123-4. 
Every,  G.  H.  (engraver),  391. 

Fables  (Dryden),  90,  355. 

Fall   of  Scepticism    and    Infidelity  Predicted 

(Cockin),  220. 
Farington,  George  (painter),  141. 
Fell,  Rev.  Mr.,  12. 

Felpham  (Hayley's  '  Marine  Villa '),  178,  207-8, 

214-5,  217,  221-2,  224,  241-2. 
Ferrara,  73. 

Fetherstonehaugh,  Sir  Harry,  105-6. 
Finden,  W.  (engraver),  38. 
Fine  Art  Society,  20. 

Fitzclarence,   Colonel  George,   first  Earl  of 

Munster,  202. 
Fitzherbert,  Mrs.,  120. 

Fitzwilliam  Museum,  Cambridge,  94,  99,  100, 
105,  128,  170,  316,  340,  354,  358-9,  361-2, 
364-7. 

Flaxman,  John,  R.A.,  38,  85,  87,  128,  131; 
his  friendship  with  Romney,  132  ;  154, 173, 
176,  185,  188,  194-6,  198,  202,  204-5, 
208-9,  214,  218,  223-4,  235  ;  on  Romney's 
cartoons,  236,  360 ;  237-40,  242-3,  247-8 ; 
on  Romney's  liberality  and  modesty,  252  ; 
258,  278,  303,  344-6;  on  Romney's  art, 
371-3 ;  378. 

  Mrs.  John,  132,  198,  208,  238,  242,  258, 

278. 

  Maria,  128. 

Flaxman's  '  Outlines,'  239. 
Florence,  67,  73-4,  76,  264,  290. 

  Grand  Duke  of,  74. 

Flower,  Mr.  Charles  E.,  190. 
Foldstone,  Miss  (Mrs.  Mee),  150,  278. 
Folkestone,  Lord,  38. 
Foster  and  Co.,  Messrs.,  Sale  (1903),  153. 
Foundling  Hospital  (pictures  at),  39. 
Fox,  Charles  James,  100,  184,  205. 
Foy  (sculptor),  68. 

Free  Society  of  Artists,  7,  40,  47-8,  55,  59,  60, 

229,  279,  287-8,  383. 
Frejus,  64. 


INDEX 


French,  Mr.,  198,  278. 

Friary  (Frari),  Venice,  75. 

Fryston  Hall,  77,  296-7. 

Furness  peninsula,  7,  10,  12,  49. 

Further  Memoirs   of  the    Whig  Party  (Lord 

Holland),  194-5,  249. 
Fuseli,  Henry,  R.  A.,  68, 114,  141, 173,  235,  248, 

344,  352,  363. 

Gainsborough,  Humphry,  9. 

 ■  John,  8. 

  John,  senr. ,  10. 

  Thomas,  R.A.,  1,  2,  15,  38-40,  48,  57 

note,  104,  246-7,  249,  252,  264,  268,  287, 
291,  297,  300,  320-1,  331,  334,  337,  341, 
343,  345-6,  348,  368-9,  378. 

Gale  Family,  29. 

Gallini,  Giovanni  Andrea,  165. 

Gamlin,  Mrs.,  123,  128  note,  184,  330. 

Gardner,  Daniel  (painter),  14,  18,  275-6. 

  Family,  12. 

  Mrs.,  14,  275. 

Garrick,  David,  52-4,  84,  94,  220,  248. 

  Club,  London,  277- 

Gell,  Mrs.,  159. 

Genlis,  Madame  de,  158,  169,  171-2. 

Genoa,  65,  67 ;   Palazzo  Balbi,  65 ;  Palazzo 

Durazzo,  65,  290,  292  ;  Palazzo  Rosso,  65  ; 

St.  Ambrogio,  66. 
Gentleman  s  Magazine,  46,  301. 
 ■    (obituary  notice  of  Romney),  44, 

234. 
George  u,  36. 

  ii.,  37,  328. 

  in.,  37,  168,  301. 

 iv.  (see  also  Prince  of  Wales),  107,  115. 

Giardini,  Felice,  15. 

Gibbon,  Edward,  83,  99,  129-31,  187,  388. 
Gibson,  Miss,  of  Lancaster,  30. 
Gilchrist,  Alexander,  235. 
Gilfil's  Love  Story,  Mr.  (Geoi-ge  Eliot),  275. 
Gilpin,   Sawrey,    R.A.,    113,   147,  247,  267, 
340-1. 

Gloucester,  Duke  of,  71. 

Godfrey,  Captain,  127,  130,  171  note,  208  note. 

Golden  Head,  Great  Newport  St.  (Romney's 
lodgings),  51,  54,  62,  240,  279. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  52,  95. 

Gooch,  Sir  Thomas,  320. 

Gordon,  Lord  George,  Riots,  70. 

Gower,  Earl  (first  Marquis  of  Stafford),  95. 

  Countess,  letter  from  Romney,  96  ;  123-5. 

  Lord  (first  Duke  of  Sutherland),  148,  158. 

  Lord    Ronald   Sutherland,  20,    50,  80; 

description  of  Eartham,  87 ;  96,  100,  116, 
125,  170,  177,  180,  203-5,  213,  228-9,  273, 
284-5,  293,  306,  310,  312,  316,  339-40,  359, 
362-4,  385. 

Grafton,  Duke  of,  201. 

  Gallery,  Romney  Exhibitions  (1900-01), 

57,  104,  122,  124-5,  127,  136,  156,  170, 
321,  324,  327,  343. 

Graham,  Dr.,  104-5,  168. 
G.R.— 26 


Graham,  Sir  James,  212. 
Granville,  Lord  (the  late),  298  note. 
Graves,  Mr.  Algernon,  288. 

  Mr.  Henry,  171. 

Gray  (poet),  269,  362-3. 
Gray's  Inn,  49,  50,  80,  266. 
Graythwaite,  Windermere,  228. 
Greatheed,  Rev.  Mr.,  87. 
Great  Masters,  288. 
Great  Neston,  Cheshire,  103. 
Green,  John,  147- 

  Valentine  (engraver),  57,  59,  60,  279. 

Greene,  Thomas,  49,  50,  62,  86,  204,  218,  234 

note,  239,  247,  332. 
Greenhead,  H.  T.  (engraver),  390-1,  393. 
Gretna  Green,  20,  334,  388. 
Greuze,  Jean  Baptiste,  158,  343,  378. 
Greville,  Charles,  73-4, 106-8,  111-12,  114,  116  ; 

Lady  Hamilton's  letters  to  him,  137-40 ; 

147,  167-8,  248,  316,  318. 
Grey  Court,  Arundel  St.,  37. 
Grozer,  Joseph  (engraver),  279. 
Guelph  Exhibition  (1891),  77,  83,  177-8,  310, 

318,  335. 

Guercino  (Giovanni  Francesco  Barbieri),  75. 

Guido  Reni,  64,  66,  72,  74,  77,  290. 

Guildhall  (London)  Exhibitions  (1899),  315, 

358  ;  (1902),  57  note. 
Gulland,  Miss  E.  (engraver),  396. 
Gunning,  Sir  Robert,  305. 

Guy,  Mr.,  surgeon,  of  Chichester,  77,  179,  210. 

Haden,  Sir  F.  Seymour  (etcher),  395. 

Haines,  William  (engraver)  30,  243. 

Halifax,  Lord,  52. 

Halsey,  Governor,  of  Bombay,  385. 

Hamilton,  Duchess  of  (Elizabeth  Gunning),  298. 

 Duke  of,  211. 

  Lady,  21  ;  her  early  history,  102-8 ;  first 

visit  to  Romney's  studio,  108  ;  her  relation- 
ship to  Romney,  108-13 ;  portraits  of  her 
by  Romney,  113-18,  313-19  ;  119,  123,  126  ; 
goes  to  Italy — Greville's  betrayal  of  her, 
137-40  ;  returns  to  England,  162-3  ;  sits  to 
Romney  again,  163-7  ;  Hayley's  verses  to 
her,  165 ;  sings  and  acts  at  Romney's 
house,  165  ;  sits  to  Lawrence,  166 ;  her 
marriage,  166 ;  returns  to  Naples,  167 ; 
letter  to  Romney,  167-8 ;  his  reply,  168-9  ; 
171-2,  183,  190-1,  204,  223-5,  237-9,  246, 
276,  291,  305-6,  321,  351,  353. 

  Lady  Betty,  298. 

■         Gavin  (painter),  102,  137. 

  Hugh  Douglas,  (painter),  50. 

  Sir  William,  102,  107,  112-4,  116,  137-40, 

162-7,  238. 

Hampshire  (Romney's  excursion  to),  195. 

Hampstead  (Romney's  house  at),  100,  143, 185, 
187,  198,  206-10 ;  description  of,  212-13  ; 
219,  221-5,  236,  252,  264,  269,  271,  347, 
359,  363,  365. 

 (Romney's  lodgings  at),  184,  198,  218. 

 Constitutional  Club,  213. 

401 


GEORGE 


ROMNEY 


Handbook  for  Young  Painters  (C.  R.  Leslie), 
100. 

Harding,  Sylvester  (painter),  128. 
Hardinge,  George,  121,  151. 
Hardwicke,  Lord,  98. 
Hare,  Mr.  Ernest  H. ,  390. 
Harewood,  Lady,  120. 
Harrison,  Thomas,  (architect)  68. 
Hart,  Emma.    See  Hamilton,  Lady. 
Harvey,  Eliab,  119. 
Hawarden,  103,  106. 
Hawkshead,  12. 

Haydon,  Benjamin  R.  (painter),  202. 

Hayley,  Thomas,  127,  132,  156,  159,  171,  174-5, 
189, 196-8,  201,  204-11,  214-19,  222  ;  death, 
223 ;  his  monument  by  Flaxman,  224 ; 
238,  243,  276-8. 

 William,  2,  4,  10,  13-18,  20,  25,  29,  30-1, 

43,  77,  83 ;  first  meets  Romney,  84 ;  his 
life  and  writings,  84;  his  influence  over 
Romney,  85  ;  Southey  on  Hayley,  85-6 ; 
sits  to  Romney,  86 ;  89 ;  Epistle  to 
Romney,  90 ;  Trials  of  Temper,  99  ;  100, 
111,  113-4,  118,  120-1,  123,  126-7,  129-32, 
139-40,  147-8,  150,  153,  156;  goes  to 
Paris  with  Romney,  158;  159,  163,  168, 
171-2,  174-8,  180 :  letters  from  Cowper  to 
him  with  sonnet  on  Romney,  181  ;  183, 
186-7,  193-6,  198,  203-5,  212,  221,  225; 
collects  materials  for  Life  of  Romney, 
235-43 ;  letters  from  Flaxman  to  him, 
236;  his  Life  of  Romney  published, 
243-4;  245-50,  252,  254,  256,  261,  266, 
269,  271,  277-9,  283,  302,  315-7,  331,  341, 
347-51,  356,  358,  362,  371,  373,  385,  387-9. 

Hayley's  Life  of  Romney  (quotations  from),  30, 
41-2,  46,  49  ;  Romney's  style  before  going 
to  Italy,  57,  76,  78  ;  on  Romney's  nervous 
timidity,  82  ;  86  ;  his  selection  of  subjects 
for  Romney,  88-9 ;  on  Romney's  training 
and  powers  as  an  artist,  90-1  ;  on  Lady 
Hamilton,  112;  on  '  Sensibility,' 1 15  ;  120, 
121 ;  on  Romney's  portraits  of  himself 
122 ;  130-1,  133  ;  dissuades  Romney  from 
joining  the  Royal  Academy,  133-4 ;  on 
Boydell's  'Shakespeare,'  141-2;  on  'The 
Tempest,'  148-9,  157-8;  149-50,  154,  155, 
158,  160  ;  on  Romney's  imaginary  afflic- 
tions, 160,  162 ;  162-4 ;  verses  to  Lady 
Hamilton,  165  ;  169-79,  172-3 ;  on 
Romney's  portrait  of  Cowper,  175 ;  on 
teaching  Blake  to  paint  in  miniature,  176  ; 
on  Charlotte  Smith,  the  novelist,  179 ; 
184,  189  ;  on  Romney's  appreciation  of 
Tom  Hayley's  talents,  197-8  ;  208,  210- 
11,  215-6,  220-1  ;  stays  with  Romney  at 
Hampstead,  222  ;  sees  Romney  for  the  last 
time,  223  ;  correspondence  with  Romney 
at  Kendal  respecting  Lady  Hamilton,  223-4; 
reasons  for  writing  Romney's  Life,  234 ; 
a  comparison  of  Romney  and  Reynolds, 
249 ;  on  Romney's  conversation,  253, 
reverence  for  the  Gospel,  257,  relations 

402 


with  his  wife,  259-60,  and  personal  appear- 
ance, 263-4  ;  on  the  '  Cupid  and  Psyche  ' 
cartoons,  355,  365-6. 

Hayley's  own  Memoirs,    See  under  Memoirs. 

Hayley's  Sale  (1821),  127,  171  note. 

Hayley,  Mrs.,  84,  86,  159-60,  171,  217  and 
note. 

Hayman,  Francis,  R.A.,  38-9. 

Haymarket  (Free  Society's  Exhibitions),  40. 

Haynes,  E.  L.  (engraver),  392-3. 

Heath,  James,  A.  E.  (engraver),  128,  276. 

'  Hebe  Vestina,'  104. 

Heinemann,  Mr.  William,  288  note. 

Henderson,  John  (actor),  129,  246-7,  367. 

■  ■  W.  (engraver),  390-1,  394-6. 

Herrick,  Robert,  369. 
Hertford,  Marquis  of,  4,  276. 
Hesketh,  Lady,  176,  180. 
Hester,  R.  Wallace  (engraver),  391,  393. 
Hewlett,  A.  (engraver),  391. 
Highmore,  Joseph  (painter),  39. 
Hirst,  Norman  (engraver),  116,  392-4. 
Hodges,  C.  H.  (engraver),  279. 

 William,  R.  A.  147,  186,  214-5,  247. 

Hogarth,  William,  36-9. 
Hogarth's  '  Analysis  '  254. 
Holbein,  Hans,  207. 

Holgate,  Miss  Anne  (Mrs.  Carwardine),  95. 

Holl,  F.,  A.R.A.,  393. 

Holland,  Lady.    See  Webster,  Mrs. 

 Lord  (third),  194-5,  249. 

Holly  Bush  Hill.    See  Hampstead,  Romney's 

house  at. 
Holme,  Mr.,  of  Manchester,  35. 
Homer,  132,  179,  188,  194.  236. 
Hone,  Nathaniel,  R.A. ,  105. 
Honourable  East  India  Company,  10,  58,  200 

385. 

Hoole,  John  (translator  of  Ariosto),  141. 
Hoole,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  246. 
Hoppner,  John,  R.A.,  227,  230,  268. 
Hopwood,  James  (engraver),  124. 
Home,  Mr.  H.  P.,  60,  279. 
Horsley,  George,  324. 
Hotel  de  York,  Paris,  62. 
Howard,  Henry,  R.  A.,  208,  214. 

 John,  (philanthropist),  98-9,  121. 

Hucks,  William,  327. 

Hudson,  Thomas  (painter),  19,  38-9,  45,  281. 
Humphry,  Ozias,  R.A.,  60;  goes  to  Italy  with 

Romney,  61-4  ;  67,  68  ;  letter  from  Romney 

to  him,  75  ;  240,  247,  287. 
Hurdis,  Rev.  James,  179-80. 
Huskisson  Family,  88. 
'  Hygieia,  Goddess  of  Health,'  104. 

Ickwell  Bury,  318. 
lliff,  Rev.  Mr.,  201. 
11  Penseroso  (Milton)  55. 
Inchiquin,  Lord,  7. 

Incorporated  Society  of  Artists,  39,  40,  43,  55, 

59,  60,  78,  92. 
India,  131,  385. 


INDEX 


Iphigenia  in  Aulis  (trans.  Dr.  Potter),  97. 
Ipswich,  384. 

Ireland,  7,  23,  219,  276,  388. 

Ireland,  National  Gallery  of,  191,  229,  233. 

Ireland,  Society  of  Artists  of,  276. 

Isle  of  Wig-lit  (Ronmey's  visit  to),  193-4. 

Italy,  48,  61,  332,  335. 

Ives,  Charlotte  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  W.  Bosanquet), 
200. 

 John,  of  Norwich,  200. 

Jacobe,  Johann  (engraver),  97,  279,  332. 

Jamaica,  330. 

James,  Dr.  Robert,  83. 

James  St.,  Covent  Garden  (Romney's  lodgings), 
48. 

Jane  Shore,  (drama)  129. 
Jarvis,  John  Wesley,  186. 
JeafFreson,  Mr.  J.  Cordy,  103. 
Jebb,  Sir  Richard,  94. 
Jeens,  C.  H.  (engraver),  393. 
Jersey,  Lady,  327. 
Jesuits'  College,  Rome,  72. 
Johnes,  Col.,  of  Hafod,  161. 
Johnson,  Mr.  H.  R.  Vaughan,  177. 

 Mrs.  H.  R.  Vaughan,  176. 

  John,  Rev.  Dr.  (Cowper's  cousin),  174, 

176,  178,  180-1. 

 General  J.  Julius,  317. 

 Dr.  Samuel,  65,  114,  249,  329. 

  Rev.  W.  Cowper,  177. 

Johnstone,  Governor,  135. 

Jones,  John  (engraver),  57,  124-5,  131,  247, 

279,  303-4,  394. 
Journey  through  Flanders  (Este),  246. 

Kauffmann,  Angelica,  41,  81,  344. 
Kean,  Edmund,  170. 
Keate,  Mr.  (surgeon),  70. 
Keating,  George  (engraver),  116,  279. 
Keene,  Henry  (architect),  68. 
Kemble,  John  Philip,  171. 

Kendal,  14,  18,  20,  23,  25-6,  28,  32-3,  211, 
218-20,  223,  225-8,  237,  258,  260,  275, 
277-8,  283,  383. 

Kendal  Town  Hall,  portraits  by  Romney  in,  28  ; 
lottery  prizes  exhibited  in,  29. 

Kenealy,  N.  (engraver),  392. 

Kennall,  Miss  Jane  (Mrs.  John  Romney),  228. 

Kent,  Sir  Charles,  Bt.,  324. 

  William  (painter),  37. 

Kettle,  Tilly  (portrait  painter),  62,  153. 

Kew,  206,  211,  222. 

Kilburn  (Pine  Apple  Place),  175,  187-8,  252. 
Kilburn  Wells,  245. 
King,  Mrs.  J.  J.,  of  Loxwood,  202. 
King's  Arms,  Lancaster,  285. 

 College,  Cambridge,  94. 

 Mews,  36. 

Kippis,  Dr.,  246. 
Kirwan  Family,  246. 
Kneller,  Sir  Godfrey,  36,  286. 
Knight,  Sam,  14. 


Knole,  60,  62. 

Knowles,  Mrs.  (the  'Fair  Quakeress'),  114, 
153. 

Laguillebmie,  F.  (engraver),  394. 
V Allegro  (Milton),  55. 

Lambert,  Mr.  (professor  of  Greek,  Cambridge), 
384. 

Lancaster,  7,  10,  23,  25,  51,  55,  228,  254,  281, 

283-6,  381-2,  384. 
Lancaster  Grammar  School,  219. 
Landseer,  Sir  Edwin,  R.A.,  38. 
Lansdowne,  Lady,  308. 
Lapland  Odes,  365. 
Lathom  House,  27,  288,  294. 
Lavant,  226. 

Law,  Edward  (Lord  Ellenborough),  135. 

  Dr.    John  (Bishop   of   Clonfert),  135, 

156. 

Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  P.R.A.,  38,  166,  178 

Layard,  Mr.  G.  S.,  166. 

Le  Brun,  Madame  Vigee,  116,  328. 

Le  Brun's  '  Passions,'  14. 

Leconfield  (first),  Baron,  202. 

Lee,  Mr.,  (botanist),  148. 

 Miss,  148. 

Leggatt,  Mr.  Ernest,  122. 
Leghorn,  64,  67,  185. 
Leicester,  Sir  John,  115,  191. 
Lely,  Sir  Peter,  26,  282,  286. 
Leslie,  C.  R.,  R.A.,  100,  202. 
Le  Sueur,  Eustache,  50. 
Letters  (Anna  Seward),  153. 
Lewthwaite,  Mr.,  of  Broadgate,  18. 
Lichfield,  120,  123,  153,  388. 
Lille,  50. 

Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  148. 
Lindley,  Mrs.  103. 
Lister,  Mr.,  152. 
Liverpool,  18,  384. 

 Arts  Club  Exhibition  (1881),  229. 

 Royal  Institution,  100,  128,  170,  354-63. 

Lives  of  the  Painters  (Vasari),  272. 

Llandaff,  Bishop  of,  214. 

'  Llangollen,  Ladies  of,'  386-7. 

Long,  Walter  J.,  of  Preshaw,  4,  86. 

  William  (surgeon)  of  Preshaw,  86,  113, 

129,  131,  156,  218,  232,  234  note. 
Long  Room,  Hampstead,  246. 
Longus,  subjects  from,  340. 
Lonsdale,  James  (Romney's  pupil),  211,  273, 

277. 

Lothian  (fourth),  Marquis  of,  304. 
Lottery  pictures  (Romney's),  29-31. 
Louvre,  Paris,  50. 
Lucan,  Lady,  329. 
Lushington,  the  Misses,  222. 
Lusiad  (trans.  Mickle),  97-8. 
Luxembourg  Gallery,  50,  158. 
Lyceum,  Strand,  40,  213. 
Lyon,  Amy.    See  Lady  Hamilton. 

 Mr.  (at  Nice),  64. 

Lyons,  63,  79. 

403 


GEORGE 


ROMNE Y 


Macbeth,  R.  W.,  R.A.,  395. 

 Raeburn,  H.  (engraver),  395. 

Macklin  Charles  (actor),  247. 
McCleod,  Lt.-Gen.  Sir  John,  304. 
Magazine  of  Art,  379. 
Maiden  Lane,  Covent  Garden,  40. 
Manchester,  33-5,  219,  384. 

  Art  Treasures  Exhibition  (1857),  3,  124. 

 Grammar  School,  227. 

Maun,  Sir  Horace,  73. 

Marcella  (W.  Hay  ley),  156. 

Marchant,  Nathaniel,  R.A.,  (gem  engraver), 

68,  150. 
Marie  Antoinette,  Queen,  167. 
Marlborough  (fourth),  Duke  of,  135,  319. 
Marly,  50. 
Marseilles,  64. 
Marsh,  Mr.,  of  Oriel,  242. 
Marshall,  Mr.  Chitty,  385. 
Marylebone  Church,  166. 
Masaccio,  Tommaso  Guidi,  73-4,  290. 
Matsell,  Mr.,  186. 

Maxwell,  Sir  Herbert,  Bt,  7,  17,  30,  116,  172, 

228,  279,  303,  310,  334. 
Mee,  Mrs.    See  Miss  Foldstone. 
Mellish,  Mr.,  200. 
Memoirs  (Lady  Craven),  328-9. 

 (R.  Cumberland),  56,  249. 

  (Hayley's  own),  91,  115,  123,  176,  208 

note,  210,  235,  243. 

 of  Lady  Hamilton,  110. 

 of  Thomas  Hayley  (W.  Hayley),  198  note. 

Mengs,  Raphael,  272. 
Mentone,  65. 

Methuen,  Paul  Cobb,  320. 

Mews  Gate,  Charing  Cross  (Romney's  lodgings), 
42. 

Meyer,  Jeremiah,  R.A.,  84,  88,  92,  129,  133, 

148,  150,  156,  247,  287,  365. 

 William,  204,  208,  214. 

Mickle,  W.  J.,  97. 

Middleton,  William,  Lord,  137. 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  189-90. 

Milbanke,  Sir  Peniston,  88. 

Millais,  Sir  J.  E.,  P.R.A.,  380. 

Miller  and  His  Men  (I.  Pocock),  277. 

Miller,  Fred  (engraver),  393. 

Millers- Rawlinson,  Mr.  W.,  58-9,  278. 

Milliere,  Auguste  (painter),  186. 

Milner,  Miss  E.  (engraver),  391,  394. 

Milnes,  John,  of  Wakefield,  77. 

Milton,  John,  55,  169,  172-3,  179,  182-3,  193, 

235-6,  267,  348,  363. 
Milton,  Life  of(W.  Hayley),  173. 
Modene,  Hotel  de,  Paris,  158. 
Monaco,  Hotel  de,  Paris,  158. 
Monody  on  Andre  (Anna  Seward),  154. 
Montagu,  Edward  Wortley,  76. 
Monthly  Review,  154,  225. 
Morecambe  Bay,  7,  12,  29. 
Morland,  Col.  John,  283. 
Morrison  MSS.,  168. 

Morritt,  Mrs.,  of  York  (worsted-worker),  81. 

404 


Mortimer,  J.  Hamilton,  A.R.A.,  38,  44-7,  81. 

Moser,  George  Michael,  R.A.,  38,  43. 

Mundy  Family,  273. 

Murillo,  Bartolome  Esteban,  233. 

Murphy,  John  (engraver),  28,  279. 

Naples,  102,  109,  111,  114,  116,  137-9,  166-9, 

223,  267,  328. 

 King  and  Queen  of,  116,  167. 

Nash,  Mr.  E.  Barrington,  105. 

National  Gallery,  London,  4,  27,  140,  219,  228, 

283-4,  286,  305,  309,  317-8,  328,  339,  353. 

 of  Ireland.    See  Ireland. 

  Portrait  Exhibitions,  South  Kensington, 

3,  60,  177. 

 Gallery,  London,  122,  176-8,  187, 

205,  218,  228,  244,  264,  277,  313,  317-8, 
331-2. 

Neagle,  John  (engraver),  128. 

Nelson,  Lord,  103,  106,  116,  127,  224,  365. 

Neptune's  Grotto,  Tivoli,  72. 

Newbery,  Mr.,  170. 

New  College,  Oxford,  333. 

Newdigate,  Sir  Roger,  273-5. 

 Lady,  273-5. 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  120,  184. 

 Rev.  John,  (friend  of  Cowper1!.  174. 

Newtou-in-Cartmel,  223 
Nice,  64,  65. 
Nicholas,  Miss,  198,  278. 
Nicol,  George,  141,  172. 
Nimes,  63. 

Noailles,  Marquis  de,  302. 
Nollekens,  Joseph,  R.A.,  38,  248,  258. 
Nollekens  and  His  Times  (J.  T.  Smith),  213, 
327. 

Northchurch,  Herts,  388-9. 
Northcote,    James,  R.A.,   146-7,   245,  248, 
291. 

North  Lonsdale,  12. 
Nottingham  Art  Gallery,  277. 

Observer  (R.  Cumberland),  145. 
Ode  to  Cheerfulness  (W.  Hayley),  84. 

 to  the  Genius  of  the  Lakes  (Cockin),  220. 

  to  Howard  (W.  Hayley),  121. 

 to  the  Passions  (Collins),  353. 

 to  Romney  (Cockin),  55,  220. 

 to  the  Sun  (R.  Cumberland),  83. 

Odyssey  (Flaxman's  designs),  188. 
Ogborne,  John  (engraver),  136. 
Old  Manor  House  (Charlotte  Smith),  179. 
Oliver,  Archer  James,  A.R.A.,  58. 

 Mr.,  272. 

Olney,  174. 

Opie,  John,  R.A.,  143,  277. 
Orde,  Hon.  Thomas,  94. 
Orleans  Collection,  50,  158,  289. 
Orpheus  and  Eurydice  cartoons,  100,  358-60. 
Orrery    ('  Eidouranion '  —  Adam  Walker's), 
156. 

Oxford  Portrait  Exhibition  (1906),  130,  156, 

333,  335 


INDEX 


Paddington  Green,  107,  137. 
Padua,  76. 

Page,  Miss  Frances,  84. 
Paine,  Thomas,  186. 
Paley,  Rev.  Dr,  157,  161. 
Paley,  Life  of,  157. 
Pamela  Fitzgerald,  169,  171-2. 
Pantry,  Mr.,  Dove  Court  (Romney's  lodgings), 
142. 

Paradise  Lost,  184,  235. 
 Regained,  196. 

Paris,  42,  48-9,  62-3,  79,  158,  160,  261,  289, 
323. 

Park,  Bridget,  10. 

 Thomas,  10. 

Parker,  Sir  Hyde,  116  note. 

 Lister,  113. 

 James  (engraver),  240-1. 

Parkes,  R.  B.  (engraver)  395. 
Parma,  78,  290. 

Parmigiano  (Francesco  Mazzuola),  65-6,  74-5, 
78,  290. 

'  Paston,  George,'  125,  170-1,  191. 
Payne,  Captain  J.  W.,  104. 

 >  James  (architect),  62. 

Peirse,  Henry,  79,  323. 

Peirson,  Major,  58. 

Pennington,  Mr.,  41. 

Penny,  Edward,  R.A.,  81. 

Percy,  Dr. ,  Bishop  of  Dromore,  276. 

Permain,  Mr.,  126. 

Persae  (Aeschylus),  195. 

Peter  the  Great,  142. 

Peterhouse  College,  Cambridge,  135,  157. 
Pether,  William  (engraver),  60. 
Pettigrew,  126. 

Petworth,  57,  114,  155,  170,  188,  201-4,  206, 

208,  210,  233,  329. 
Philipe,  Mr.  T.  (auctioneer),  230. 
Phillips,  Captain,  246. 

  Mr.    Claude,  203 ;    on   Romney's  art, 

378-9. 

Phillips,  Thomas,  R.A.,  203,  371 ;  on  Romney's 

art,  373-5. 
Pilkington's  Dictionary,  374. 
Pine  Apple  Place.    See  Kilburn. 
Pine,  Robert  Edge  (painter),  44. 
Pisa,  67. 

Pitt,  William,  311. 

Pitti  Palace,  Florence,  74. 

Pocock,  Isaac  (Romney's  pupil),  29,  101,  211, 
218,  222,  277. 

  Nicholas  (marine  painter),  277. 

Poetical  Epistle  on  Marriage  (W.  Hayley),  84. 
Pole,  Mr.,  200. 
Ponsonby,  Miss,  386-7. 
Pope,  Alexander,  120-1. 
Portfolio,  262. 

Portland  (second),  Duke  of,  304. 

Portsmouth,  195. 

Pott,  Mr.,  101. 

Potter,  Dr.,  97,  171,  360. 

Poussin,  Nicolas,  31,  233,  282. 


Powell,  Mrs.,  163. 
Powys,  Mrs.  M.,  386-7. 

  Thomas  Jelf,  330. 

Pratt,  J.  B.  (engraver),  391-2,  395-6. 

Preston,  254,  283. 

Price,  James,  Sale  (1895),  330. 

Priestley,  Dr.  Joseph,  26,  38. 

Princess  Royal,  327. 

Pringle,  Lady,  285. 

Prior,  Matthew,  120-1. 

Privy  Gardens,  43,  71. 

Progress  of  Poesy  (Gray),  269,  362. 

Protheroe,  J.  (engraver),  393. 

Prussia,  King  of,  328. 

Public  Advertiser,  55. 

Puleston,  Philip,  322. 

Pye,  John,  38. 

Quebec,  or  the  Conquest  of  Canada,  55. 

Queen  of  Naples  and  Lord  Nelson  (J.  C.  Jeaffre- 

son),  103-4. 
Queensberry,  Marquis  of,  163. 

Radnor,  Lord,  Collection,  210. 
Raimbach,  Abraham  (engraver),  197,  243. 
Ramsay,  Allan  (portrait  painter),  39. 
Ramus  Family,  301-2. 
Ranelagh,  108. 

Raphael,  56,  66,  70-1,  73-5,  148,  233,  290. 
Rawlinson,  James  (Romney's  pupil),  276. 
  Major  W.  S.,  58. 

  Mrs.,  of  Graythwaite  (Romney's  grand- 
daughter), 58,  228,  285. 

Read,  Mr.  (Isaac  Reed?),  237. 

Redman,  Alderman,  of  Kendal,  14,  275. 

Rees'  Cyclopaedia  (1819),  371. 

Rembrandt,  233,  242. 

Reni.    See  Guido. 

Retaliation  (Goldsmith),  52. 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  P.R.A.,  1,  2,  29,  38-40, 
44-5,  51,  55,  68,  72,  75,  81,  91,  97,  100-1, 
114,  130-1,  133,  141-2,  147,  155,  184,  195, 
226,  231,  233,  245,  247-52,  255,  258-9,  264, 
267,  275,  287-9,  291,  293,  298,  303,  306, 
309,  319-21,  326,  329,  331,  334,  337,  341, 
343,  345,  352,  368-9,  375-80. 

Reynolds  Galleries,  51. 

Richardson,  Mr.,  of  Cartmel,  29. 

Richmond,  Duke  of,  his  statue  gallery,  43 ; 
portraits  of  him  by  Romney,  43,  71,  83;  216. 

  Duchess  of,  341. 

Richter's,  Mr.  (Romney's  lodgings),  62,  240. 
Ridley,  William  (engraver),  154. 
Rigaud,  John  Francis,  R.A.,  26,  282. 
Rigaud  to  Reynolds,  From  (S.  Colvin),  262. 
Roberts,  Mr.  W.,  178. 

Robinson  and  Fisher,  Messrs.,  Sale  (1896),  4. 

  G.  (engraver),  394-5. 

  Mr.  Henry  Crabb,  205. 

- —  Mrs.,  of  Bardsea  Hall,  29. 

  Thomas  (Romney's  pupil),  18,  237 ;  account 

of  Romney's  habits  and  methods  of  work, 

266-7  ;  273,  276,  281,  316. 

405 


GEORGE 


ROMNEY 


Robinson,  Thomas  Romney,  276. 
Rodogune  (Corneille),  84. 

Rome,  62,  67-74,  76,  132,  150,  154,  173,  185, 
194-5,  209,  228,  258,  261,  290,  344,  367, 
377. 

Romney,  Miss  Elizabeth  (painter's  grand- 
daughter), 228,  314. 

  George  (painter's  grandfather),  7- 

Romney,  George — 

His  Life  and  Character — 

Ambition  his  ruling  passion,  245. 

Ancestry  and  relations,  7-11,  381-5. 

Apprenticeship  to  Steele,  18-24. 

Artists,  relationships  with  other,  247-8. 

Associates  and  intimate  friends,  246-7. 

Bearbinder's  Lane,  lodgings  in  (1762),  42. 

Birth,  parentage,  and  education,  7,  12-14. 

Blake,  William,  collects  material  for 
Hayley's  Life  of  Romney,  235-43. 

Bologna,  visit  to,  73-5. 

Bologna  Academy  of  Painting,  offered  the 

presidentship  of,  73. 
Bunce,  S.,  Romney's  architect,  208-9. 
Cambridge,  visit  to,  207. 
Casts  from  the  Antique,  his  collection  of, 

185. 

Cavendish  Square  (No.  37),  moves  to,  81. 
Character  and  habits,  2,  89,  250-2,  255  ; 

Colvin,  Mr.  S.,  on  his  character,  262-3  ; 

Cumberland    on    his    character,    253 ; 

Allan  Cunningham  on  his  character,  254  ; 

Flaxman  on  his  character,  252 ;  John 

Romney  on  his  character,  251-2. 
Cockin,  William,  resides  with  him,  219. 
Coney  Court,  Gray's  Inn,  lodgings  in  (1764), 

50. 

Cowper,  meets,  at  Eartham,  173-90 ; 
Cowper's  sonnet  and  letter  to  him, 
180-2. 

Cumberland,  Richard,  makes  acquaintance 
of,  52  ;  his  verses  in  honour  of  Romney, 
56-7 ;  his  '  Epistle  to  Romney,'  83. 

Death  and  burial,  226-7. 

Dove  Court,  lodgings  in  (1762),  42. 

Early  leanings  towards  art,  13-14. 

Early  portraits,  26-8. 

Eartham,  first  visit  to,  87  ;  meets  Anna 
Seward  there,  119-21  ;  paints  his  own 
portrait  there,  121-3  ;  new  painting  room 
built  for  him,  160;  meets  Cowper  there, 
173-83  ;  last  visit  to,  222. 

Egremont,  commission  from  Lord,  188. 

Engravers  after  his  works,  279  ;  modern 
engravers  after  his  works,  390-6. 

Exhibitions,  Public,  of  his  pictures,  3. 

Family  and  descendants,  227-8. 

Felpham,  holiday  at,  with  the  Hayleys,  221. 

Flaxman,  friendship  with,  132. 

Florence,  visit  to,  73. 

Free  Society  of  Artists,  member  of,  40,  59, 

60 ;  exhibits  at,  48,  51,  54. 
French  art  and  manners,  his  opinions  on, 

50,  62. 

406 


Garrick  at  his  studio,  53. 
Genlis,  Madame  de,  and  Pamela,  enter- 
tained by  him,  171-2. 
Genoa,  visit  to,  65-7- 

Gibbon,  Edward,  acquaintance  with,  129-31. 
Golden  Head,  Great  Newport  St.,  lodgings 

in  (1767),  51. 
Gower  family  portraits,  95-6. 
Greek  tragedies,  subjects  from,  97. 
Greene,  Thomas,  friendship  with,  49,  50. 
Hamilton,  Lady,  first  visit  to  his  studio 

(1782),  108  ;  his  relationships  with  her, 

108-12 ;  pictures  of  her,  113-8,  313-9  ; 

she  goes  to  Italy  :  Greville's  betrayal  of 

her,  137-40 ;  returns  to  London  and  sits 

again  to  him,  162-9. 
Hampstead,  his  lodgings  in,  154. 
  builds  a  house  in,  211-3 ;  moves  into 

it,  222. 

Hayley,  William,  first  makes  his  acquaint- 
ance (1776),  84. 

Hayley's  influence  over  him,  85. 

Hayley's  Life  of  Romney,  234-43. 

Hayley,  Tom,  works  in  his  studio,  198. 

Humphry,  Ozias,  goes  with  him  to  Italy, 
61. 

Illnesses,  94,  151,  194,  220-6. 
Incorporated  Society  of  Artists,  member  of, 

40,  59,  60 ;  exhibits  at,  55,  57-60. 
Italian  Art,  his  opinions  on,  65-6,  73-6. 
Italy,  journey  to,  his  written  account  of 

his,  62-7. 
  visit  to,  61-79. 

James  St.,  Covent  Garden,  lodgings  in 
(1764),  48. 

Kendal,  early  days  in,  18-20,  23,  25  ;  leaves 
Kendal  for  London,  33  ;  revisits  in  1765, 
51 ;  in  1767,  51  ;  in  1798,  220-1  ;  final 
return  to,  220-2. 

Kilburn  Road,  takes  a  cottage  in,  187. 

Lakes,  English,  visits  with  his  son  (1798), 
221. 

Lancaster,  visits  to,  25,  30,  51. 
London,  ambition  to  go  to,  32-3. 

  arrival  in  (1762),  35. 

Lottery  of  his  pictures  in  Kendal,  29-31. 
Marriage,  20-1. 

Melancholia,  162,  206,  214,  256. 
Mews  Gate,  lodgings  in  (1763),  42. 
Milton,  pictures  and  designs  from,  169, 
184,  193. 

Montagu,    Edward    Wortley,  friendship 

with,  76. 
Obituary  notices,  234. 
Paris,  visit  to  (1764)  49,  50  ;  (1773)  62  ; 

(1775),  79  ;  (1790),  158. 
Parma,  visit  to,  78. 
Personal  appearance,  263. 
Portsmouth,  excursion  to,  195. 
Prices  of  his  pictures,  4,  5,  26,  32,  54,  61, 

147,  271. 

Pupils— Peter  Romney,  32,  211 ;  Daniel 
Gardner,  275-6  ;  Thomas  Robinson,  276  ; 


INDEX 


James  Rawlinson,  276;  Isaac  Pocock, 
277 ;  James  Lonsdale,  277 Thomas 
Stewardson,  277-8  ;  Miss  Barret  and 
others,  278-9. 
Reputation,  growth  and  fluctuations  of, 
1-6,  95. 

Revisits  the  north  (1765),  51  ;  (1767),  51  ; 

(1798),  220  ;  (1799),  222-3. 
Reynolds  and  Romney,  mutual  antipathy 

between,  48,  248-50. 
Rome,  stay  in,  67-78. 

Romney,  Col.  James,  returns  from  India, 
225-6. 

 John,  Memoirs  of  his  father,  243-4. 

Royal  Academy,  his  relations  with,  133-4. 
St.  Paul's,  London,  scheme  for  decoration 
of,  81. 

Sale  of  his  studio  effects  (1801),  225. 

Sales  of  his  pictures,  228-33. 

Sculpture  Gallery  (Duke  of  Richmond's), 
copies  in,  43. 

Shakespeare  Gallery  (Boydell's),  his  work 
for,  140-4,  170-1. 

 designs  from,  189-91. 

Society  of  Arts,  gains  premiums,  43-7,  50. 

Son,  birth  of  his  only,  25. 

Steele,  Christopher,  apprenticed  to,  18 ; 
helps  him  to  elope,  20  ;  parts  company 
with  him  (1757),  24. 

Sterne,  meets  him  in  York,  22. 

Stonehenge,  visit  to,  210. 

Sussex,  excursion  through,  218. 

Tempest  picture,  148,  157-8. 

Thurlow,  Lord  Chancellor,  acquaintance 
with,  99-101,  149-50. 

Triumphs  of  Temper,  and  '  Serena '  pic- 
tures, 99,  123-9,  302-3. 

Unfinished  works,  number  of,  268-70. 

Venice,  visit  to,  75-8. 

Violin  making,  15. 

Whitestock  Howe,  buys  estate  of,  223. 
Wife,  relations  with  his,  257-63. 

 revisits  her  in  Kendal  (1798),  220-1  ; 

final  return  to  her  (1799),  222. 
Wight,  Isle  of,  visit  to,  194. 
Williamson,  John,  friendship  with,  14-17- 
Wood  carving,  early  practice  of,  13. 
York,  stay  in,  with  Steele,  21. 

His  Art — 
Animal  painter,  Romney  as  an,  341. 
Anonymous  painter,  a  contemporary,  on 

his  art,  373. 
Bootle  family  portraits,  294-6. 
Candle-light  effects,  31. 
Conway,  Sir  Martin,  on  his  art,  379. 
Copies  of  old  Dutch  prints,  29,  31. 

 of  old  Masters  in  Italy,  69,  71,  73-6. 

Drapery  painting,  beauty   of  his,  291-2, 

345-6. 

Fitzwilliam  Museum,  Cambridge,  his  de- 
signs and  studies  in,  364-7. 
Flaxman  on  his  art,  371-3. 


Grace    and  beauty  of   his    portraits  of 

women  and  children,  336-9. 
Historical  and  fancy  subjects,  347-54. 
Italian   visit,   its   influence   on  his  art, 

290-1. 

Lack  of  early  training  in  art,  280. 
Limitations  of  his  art,  342-3. 
Liverpool  cartoons,  355-63. 
Milnes  family  portraits,  296-7. 
Nude,  studies  from  the,  69-70. 
Palette,  his,  273. 

Phillips,  Mr.  Claude,  on  his  art,  378. 

 ■  Thomas,  R.A.,  on  his  art,  373-5. 

Poetry  and  Sentiment,   belonged  to  the 

School  of,  343-4. 
Portraits,   early,  painted   in   the  north, 

282-6. 

  'Classical,'  of  ladies,  before  meeting 

Lady  Hamilton,  297-306. 

 ■  early,  of  children,  306-9. 

 of  '  Mother  and  Child,'  309-12. 

 of  the  '  Hamilton '  period,  319-21. 

 of  women   and   children  (1786-91), 

321-5. 

 full-length,  326-31. 

 of  men,  331-5. 

Rapidity  of  workmanship,  272. 

Reynolds,  influence  of,  on  his  art,  287-9. 

Romney,  John,  on  his  art,  376-8. 

Rubens,  influence  of,  on  his  art,  289. 

Serena  pictures,  302-3. 

Stafford  family  portraits,  292-4. 

Steele,  Christopher,  influence  of,  on  his 

art,  280-1. 
Stephens,  Mr.  F.  G,  on  his  art,  379-80. 
Summary   of   the   qualities   of  his  art, 

368-70. 

Wedmore,  Mr.  F.,  on  his  art,  378. 

W ork,  his  habits  and  methods  of,  266-8. 

Portraits  by  Romney  mentioned — 

Acton,  Mrs.  Lee,  321-2,  336,  344,  390. 

Adye  children,  157. 

Ainslie,  Mrs.,  and  child,  151. 

Albemarle,  Countess  of,  and  son,  95. 

Amelia,  H.R.  H.  Princess,  daughter  of 
George  m.,  322. 

Anson,  George,  Lord  (copy),  83. 

Anspach,  Margrave  of,  192,  328. 

 Margravine  of,  192,  300,  305,  326-8. 

Arden,  Mrs.,  and  child,  155. 

Austen,  Lady  ('  Lavinia'),  390. 

Balgonie,  Lady,  and  son,  135. 

Bankes,  Mrs.    See  W oodley,  Miss  F. 

Barnes,  Mr.  Secondary,  50. 

Barrington,  Dr.  Shute,  Bishop  of  Salis- 
bury, 134,  335. 

Bateman,  Rev.  Dr.,  28. 

Beauchamp-Proctor,  Lady,  319. 

Beauclerk,  Lady  Margaret.     See  Serena. 

Beauclerk,  Lord  Amelius,  269. 

Beaufort,  Duchess  of.    See  Gower  Family. 

Beautv  and  the  Arts.  See  Spencer,  Ladies, 

407 


GEORGE 


ROMNEY 


Romney,  George — continued. 
Beckford,  Alderman,  194. 

 Mr.,  119. 

 the  Misses,  157. 

Beresford,  Mrs.  and  Miss,  135. 
Bertie,  Emily,  101. 

Billington,  Mrs.,   as   'St.    Cecilia,'  151, 

229,  232-3,  313. 
Blair,  Mrs.,  390. 
Blanshard,  Mrs.,  302. 
Bonner,  Mrs.,  and  child,  161. 
Boone,  Master  and  Miss,  95,  307,  324. 
Bootle,  Mr.  R.  Wilbraham,  294-5. 

 Mrs.  R.  Wilbraham,  294-5. 

 Mrs.  R.  Wilbraham  (1704),  288,  294, 

339. 

 E.  W.  and  Randle,  135,  295-6. 

Bosanquet  family  group,  198-200. 
Bracebridge,  Mrs. ,  and  child,  306. 
Braddyll,  Colonel,  with  a  horse,  29,  119, 
341. 

 Mrs.,  29,  119. 

Broke,  Lady  Willoughby  de,  300,  302. 
Browne,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wogan,  58. 
Brownlow  Cust,  Sir  (Lord  Brownlow),  131. 

 Lady,  and  Master  Cust,  131. 

Burgoyne,  Mrs.  Montagu,  119. 
Burke,  Edmund,  83,  135,  313. 
Butler,  Mrs.  (Miss  Carwardine),  4. 
Campbell,  Gen.  Sir  Archibald,  333. 
Canning,  Mrs.   Stratford,  and  daughter, 

306,  311,  339,  390. 

Canterbury,  Archbishop  of.  See  Moore,  Dr. 
Carlisle,  Lord,  119. 

 Caroline,  Countess  of,  96,  293,  298, 

304,  390. 
Carter,  Miss  Eleanor,  305. 
Cartwriffht,  Ralph  William,  335. 
Carwardine  family  portraits,  95. 

 Rev.  Thomas,  247,  332. 

 Mrs.,  and  child,  247,  279,  297,  306, 

309,  311-2,  339,  380. 
Cavendish,  Lord  John,  83. 
 Lady  Elizabeth  (Ladv  E.  Compton), 

226-7,  300. 
Cawthorne,  Mrs.  J.  Fenton,  285-6. 

 Mr.  J.  Fenton,  the  two  sons  of,  286. 

Chamberlayne,  Edward,  97. 

Chatham,  Lord,  131. 

Chester,  Bishop  of,  119. 

Clanricarde,  Countess  of,  300. 

Clavering  children,  95,  119,  279,  297,  300, 

307,  338,  340. 

Clifden,  Caroline,  Lady.     See  Spencer, 
Ladies. 

Clive,  Hon.  Charlotte,  390. 
Close,  Miss.    See  Mrs.  Mark  Currie. 
Collingwood  family  portraits,  284. 
Cooke,  Mrs.  Bryan,  322,  390. 
Cornewall  children,  297,  307. 
Cotton,  Dr.,  98. 

Cowper,  William,  175-8,  180-1,  279,  332. 
Craven,  Berkeley  and  Keppel,  328,  334. 

408 


Crespigny,  Mrs.  de,  391. 
Crouch,  Mrs.,  229,  232,  322. 
Cumberland,  Duchess  of,  155. 

 Lady  Albinia,  391. 

 (Richard),  family  portraits,  95. 

 Bishop  of  Peterborough,  52. 

 (1768),  52. 

 (1771),  59,  313,  332. 

 Mrs.,  59. 

 Elizabeth  and  Sophia,  59. 

 Miss  E.  (Lady  E.  Bentinck),  59,  279, 

304. 

Currie,  Mrs.  Mark,  322,  390. 
Curwen,  John  Christian,  117,  341. 

 Mrs.  J.  C,  117. 

Cust,  Sir  Brownlow.    See  Brownlow. 
Dalton,  Captain  Thomas,  366. 
Darner,  Hon.  Mrs.,  83. 
Davenport,  Mrs.,  300,  304,  389. 
Dawson,  Mrs.,  391. 
Day,  Lady.    See  Ramus,  Miss  B. 
Derby,  Earl  of,  131. 

 Countess  of,  297-8,  391. 

 children  of  the  Earl  of.    See  Stanley 

children. 
Devonshire,  Duchess  of,  270. 
Dublin,  Archbishop  of.    See  Fowler,  Dr. 
Ducie,  Earl  of  (Thomas  R.  Morton),  335. 
Duncombe,  Lady  Charlotte,  391. 
Dundas,  Rt.  Hon.  Henry,  192. 
Egremont  family  group,  200-3,  206-8. 
Eliot,  Lady  Georgiana.    See  Go wer  Family. 
Ellenborough,  Lord.    See  Law. 
Euston,  Earl  of,  194. 
Fane,  Master  John,  309,  340. 

 Master  Thomas,  340,  369. 

Farmer,  Dr.,  Master  of  Emmanuel  College, 

Cambridge,  134. 
Fazakerley  children,  186. 
Fitzgerald,  Pamela,  172. 
Fitzherbert,  Mrs.,  155,  159. 
Flaxman  modelling  the  bust  of  Hayley,  50, 

132.  204-5,  332. 
Forbes,  Lady  Elizabeth,  319. 
Ford,  Mrs.,  and  child,  135. 
Fortescue,    Hester,  Countess,  and  sister 

(the  Misses  Grenville),  297,  299. 
Foster,  Lady  Elizabeth,  270. 

 Mrs.,  as  Circe,  231. 

Fowler,  Dr.  Robert,  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 

160. 

Freeman,  Mr.,  119. 

Gale,  Mrs.,  119. 

Genlis,  Matlame  de,  158,  172. 

Germaine,  Lord  George  (Viscount  Sack- 

ville),  97. 
Gibbon,  Edward,  129-31,  331. 
Gloucester,  Prince  William  Frederick  of, 

322. 

 Princess  Sophia  Matilda  of,  5. 

Glyn,  Mrs.  Clayton,  322,  337,  391. 
Gordon,  Duehess  of,  and   son,  95,  306, 
309-11,  339. 


INDEX 


Gordon,  Duchess  of,  with  dog,  310-1,  339, 
391. 

Gosling  children,  155. 

Gower,  Lord  (first  Marquis  of  Stafford), 

95-6,  294,  313,  326. 
 Lady,  95. 

 family    group   (dancing  children), 

95-6,  128,  199,  203,  279,  292-3,  297,  307, 

364,  369,  380,  391. 
Granville  Gower  (first   Lord  Granville). 

See  Gower  Family. 
Grafton,  Duke  of.    See  Euston. 
Greene,  Thomas,  49,  285 

 Miss,  49. 

Grenville,  Lord,  335. 

 the  Misses.    See  Fortescue. 

Grey,  Earl,  319,  335. 

Grosvenor,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Drax,  161. 

Grove,  Thomas,  334-5. 

 Mrs.  119,  391. 

Gunning,  Sir  Robert,  326. 

 Miss  Barbara  (Mrs.  Ross),  305-6. 

  Miss  Charlotte  (Hon.  Mrs.  Digby), 

305-6. 

Guy,  William,  of  Chichester,  210. 
Hamilton,  Lady  Isabella,  293. 

  Lady  (Emma  Hart) — 

As  Alope,  109,  115.  267  8,  314,  340, 

353-4,  364. 
As  the  Ambassadress,  in  a  blue  hat,  167, 

224-5,  391. 
As  Ariadne,  4,  109,  182,  314,  391. 
As  a  Bacchante,  4,  109,  113-4,  164,  204, 

229,  232-3,  267,  288,  313-4,  339,  392. 
As  a  Bacchante  (head  only),  115. 
As  a  Bacchante   dancing  on  a  heath 

(Mirth),  117,  170,  229,  314,  392. 
In  a  Black  Hat,  392. 
As  Calypso,  115,  169. 
As  Cassandra,  109,  115,  118,  126,  143, 

151, 168,  231,  314,  353,  392. 
As  St.  Cecilia,  109,  115-6,  267,  315. 
As  Circe,  4,  86,  113-4,  232,  314,  340, 

353,  392. 
As  the  Comic  Muse,  4,  109. 
As  Constance,  164. 
As  Contemplation,  4,  109,  392. 
As  Daphne,  392. 
As  Diana,  109. 

Emma,  in  a  straw  hat,  114,  169,  392. 
As  Euphrosyne,  109,  231,  267,  318,  392. 
As  Iphigenia,  115,  232. 
As  Joan  of  Arc,  109,  115,  143,  162,  164, 

229,  392. 
As  a  Magdalen.  115,  164. 
As  Miranda,  392. 

As  Nature,  109,  113,  279,  313,  340,  392-3. 

As  a  Nun,  109,  315,  393. 

As  the  Pythian  Priestess,  115,  232. 

As  Sensibility,  4,  109,  115,  126,  128-9, 

148,  151,  315-6,  393. 
As  Serena  reading  a  Gazette,  123,  126-8, 

222,  393. 


As  Simplicity,  109. 

At  the  Spinning  Wheel,  4,  109,  115-8, 

267,  313,  316,  364,  393. 
As  Supplication,  393. 
As  the  Tragic  Muse,  4. 
In  a  Turkish  Costume,  162. 
As  Venus,  393. 

As  a  Wood  Nymph.     See  Mrs.  Smith, 
118,  134. 

When  Young,  or  as  a  Child,  318-9,  393. 
Lady  Hamilton  (1807  sale),  231. 
In   a  group  as   the    Spinstress,  with 
Hayley,    Greville,    and    two  others 
(sepia  study),  316. 
With    head   in    her   hands  (National 

Portrait  Gallery,  No.  249),  317-8. 
As    a   Bacchante    (study— head  only) 

(National  Gallery,  No.  312),  317. 
Unfinished  study  for  Cassandra  (National 

Gallery,  No.  1668),  317-8,  393. 
Study  of  Head  (Mr.  F.  C.  Arkwright's 
collection),  318. 
Hanmer,  Lady,  298. 
Harford,  Miss  Frances,  305. 
Harris,  Sir  James,  313. 
Harrowby,  Lady.    See  Gower  Family. 
Hartley, 'David,  134. 
Hastings,  Warren,  333. 
Hatton,  Miss  Finch,  337- 
Hawkins,  Mrs.  Charles,  and  children,  306. 
Havley,   William,    86,   97,  180-1,  313, 
331-2. 

 as  '  Jacques,'  198,  214-5. 

  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  and  Lieut.  Howell 

(water-colour  :  1780),  98,  122. 

  Tom,  as  Robin  Goodfellow,  171. 

 ,  his  son,  W.  Meyer,  and  Romney 

('  The  Four  Friends '),  204,  208  and  note", 

210-1. 

Henderson  as  Macbeth,  with  the  Witches, 

86,  247,  267. 
Hodges,  Mrs.,  156. 
Holland,  Lady.    See  Webster,  Mrs. 
Holte,  Lady,  231,  306. 
Horsley,  Mrs.  George,  324. 

 children,  192,  324. 

Hotham,  Sir  Richard,  175. 

Humphry,  Ozias,  60,  62. 

Huntly,     Marquis    of.      See  Gordon, 

Duchess  of. 
Inchbald,  Mrs.,  229. 
Jackson,  Mrs.  Scott,  300. 
Jebb,  Sir  Richard,  95. 
Johnson,  Miss  Mary,  337- 
Jordan,  Mrs. ,  4,  299. 

 as  Peggy,  135-6,  319,  394. 

Kent,  the  daughters  of  Sir  Charles,  131, 

324. 

Kenyon,  Lady,  298. 
Keppel,  Admiral  (copy),  83. 
Kerr,  Lady  Emelia,  304-5. 
Kershaw,  Miss  Anne,  319. 
Knatchbull,  Mrs.,  119. 

409 


GEORGE 


ROMNEY 


Romney,  George—  continued. 

Law,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  135. 

 Edward  (Lord  Ellenborough),  155. 

Lawrence,  William,  319-20. 

 Miss  Sophia,  319-20. 

Le  Clerc,  Miss,  216. 
Leigh  family  group,  51-4. 
Lemon,  Sir  William,  332. 

 Lady,  322. 

Lennox,  Lord  George,  83. 
Lindow,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  228,  284. 
Llandaff,  Bishop  of,  214. 
Long,  William,  86. 

  Miss,  119. 

Maitland,  Miss  L.,  394. 
Malmesbury,  the  daughters  of  Lord,  297, 
299. 

Mansfield,  Countess  of.     See  Stormont, 

Lady  Louisa. 
Markham,  Dr.,  Archbishop  of  York,  160-1, 

231. 

Marlborough,  Duchess  of,  119,  394. 
Marshall,  Mrs.  Chitty,  385. 
Martin,  James,  332. 
Maxwell,  Mrs.,  119,  326-7. 
Methuen,  Paul  Cobb,  320. 

 Mrs.,  320. 

Milner,  Lady,  319,  394. 
Milnes,  Sir  Robert  Shore,  296. 

 Lady,  296,  326,  394. 

 Mrs'.  Shore,  296. 

 Miss  Hannah,  296. 

Monson,  Lady,  299,  300,  394. 
Montagu,  Edward  Wortley,  76,  87,  267. 
Moore,  Dr.,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  155. 
Morland,  Jacob,  of  Capplethwaite,  27,  283, 

286,  339,  341. 
Morris,  Mrs.,  and  son,  95,  306,  339. 
Murray,  Lady  Augusta,  Duchess  of  Sussex, 

4,  123,  300,  302. 
Napier,  Lady,  288. 
Neville,  Mr.,  119. 
Newbery,  Mrs.,  119,  394. 
Newdigate,  Sir  Roger,  273. 

 Lady,  273-5,  322,  326-7- 

Newland,  Abraham,  194. 

North,  Colonel,  119. 

Oglander,  John,  D.D.,  333. 

Oliver,  Mrs.    See  Shakespeare,  Miss. 

Osborn,  Sir  George,  333. 

Paine,  Master  J.  T.,  229,  341. 

 Thomas,  186. 

Paley,  Rev.  Dr.,  157,  161. 

Pamela.    See  Fitzgerald. 

Parker,  George  (Earl  of  Macclesfield),  335. 

 Sir  Hyde,  116,  313. 

Parr,  Rev.  Dr.,  155. 

Peirse,  Miss  Charlotte,  79,  323. 

Peirson,  Major  ('An  Officer  conversing 

with  a  Brahmin '),  58-9. 
Pelham,  Mr.,  272. 

Peterborough,  Bishop  of.     See  Cumber- 
land, Richard. 

410 


Petty,  Lord  Henry,  308,  323,  338. 

Pitt,  Mrs.  Ann  (as  ( Lady  Hamilton  as 

Mirth '),  394. 
 Miss,  231. 

 Mrs.  Morton,  and  child,  170,  312. 

 William,  131. 

Porteus,Dr.  Beilby,  Bishop  of  Chester,  101. 

Portland,  Duke  of,  194. 

Potter,  the  son  of  Dr.,  171. 

Poulett,  Lady,  394. 

Powys,  Mrs.,  330. 

Prescott,  Lady,  and  children,  324. 

Raikes,  Mrs.  Thomas,  135,  319,  394. 

Ramus,  Miss,  300-1,  379. 

•  Benedetta,  300-1,  391. 

Rattray,  Mrs.,  337. 

Rawlinson,  Mr.  T.  H.,  228,  284. 

 Mrs.  T.  H.,  228,  284. 

 Abram,  228,  284. 

Reade,  Sir  John,  335. 
Reed,  Isaac,  205. 
Richmond,  Duke  of,  43,  83,  313. 
Robertson,  Lieut.-General,  333-4. 
Robinson,    Mrs.    (Perdita),   231,  319-21, 
394-5. 

Rodbard,  Miss  Sarah,  313,  331,  338. 
Romney,     George     (National  Portrait 

Gallery  :  1782),  121-3,  229,  244,  264,  331. 

 (Uffizi  Gallery),  264. 

 (black    coat,   hair   in  powder, 

about  thirty-five),  229. 
 (water-colour  :  about  1780),  98, 

122. 

 (head,  without  spectacles  :  1795), 

205,  229. 

 (head,  with  spectacles,  crayons  : 

1799),  122,  222. 

  Mrs.  George,  20-1,  229,  282. 

  Colonel  James  (as  a  boy,  holding  a 

candle),  31,  229. 

—  (oval,  water-colour),  229. 

 (in  uniform),  229. 

 Rev.  John,  196,  229,  272. 

 Peter  and  James  (£A  Conversation'), 

51,  229,  380. 
Rooke,  Mr.  or  Mrs.,  119. 
Rouse-Boughton,  Lady,  135,  319. 
Ruck,  Miss  M.,  395. 

Russell,  Mrs.  (afterwards  Lady),  and  child, 

3,  134,  297,  311-2,  339,  395. 
Rutland,  Isabella,  Duchess  of,  269. 
Sage,  Miss,  300. 

St.  George,  Mrs.,  and  child,  170. 

Schultz,  Miss,  395. 

Seward,  Miss  Anna,  120,  151-3,  178. 

Shakespeare,  Miss  (Mrs.  Oliver),  135,  272. 

Shelburne,  Ladv,  119. 

Siddons,  Mrs.,  41,  231,  238,  267. 

Simonds,  Rev.  Dr.,  28. 

Sligo,  Lady,  322,  395. 

Smith,  Mrs.  Charlotte,  179. 

 Lady  Georgiana,  and  child,  131. 

 Mrs.  R.,  and  child,  135. 


INDEX 


Smith,  Mrs.,  sewing,  231. 

 •  Mrs.,  as  a  Wood  Nymph,  134. 

Sneyd,  Miss  Charlotte.  See  Mrs.  Daven- 
port. 

 Miss  Honora.    See  Serena. 

Sophia  Matilda,  Princess,  of  Gloucester, 
322. 

Spencer,  Ladies  Caroline  and  Elizabeth 
('Beauty  and  the  Arts'),  4,  135,  319, 
390. 

Stables,  Mrs.,  and  children,  95,  297,  306, 

312,  339,  380. 
Stanley,  Hon.  Lucy,  305. 
 Mrs.,  395. 

 children  (Earl  of  Derby's  children), 

231,  297,  337. 
Stewart,  Lady,  395. 
Stone,  Richard,  332. 

Stormont,  Lady  Louisa,  279,  297-8,  336, 
394-5. 

Strickland,  Charles,  27,  282. 

 Walter,  26,  282,  284. 

  Mrs.  Walter,  26,  282,  285. 

 Rev.  William,  27,  282. 

Sullivan,  Lady  Mary,  319-20,  395. 
Sutherland,   Duchess-Countess   of,  95-6, 

123,  294,  304-5,  395. 

 George  Granville,  first  Duke  of.  See 

Trentham,  Lord. 
Sykes,  Sir  Christopher  and  Lady,  331,  340, 

395. 

Taubman,  Miss,  119. 
Tempest,  John  Walter,  341. 
Thomas,  Sir  N.,  119. 

Thornhill,  Master  John  Bensley,  323,  395. 
Thornton,  John,  86. 

Thurlow,  Lord  Chancellor,  95,  99,  100, 
161,  267,  313,  326,  331. 

 children,  4,  101,  131,  307-8,  338. 

Tickell,  Mr.,  231. 

 Mrs.  (Miss  Ley),  229,  231,  322,  395. 

Townshend,  Anne,  Marchioness,  327, 
395. 

 Lady  Charlotte,  207- 

Trentham,  Lord  (first  Duke  of  Sutherland), 

95-6,  293,  334. 
Trotter,  Mrs.,  of  Bush,  396. 
Van  der  Gucht,  Mrs.,  322-3. 
Vere,  Lady,  119. 
Verelst,  Mrs.,  369. 

Vernon,  Miss  Lucy  ('The  Sempstress'), 
118,  135,  297,  303,  340,  393,  396. 

 Catherine  (as  Hebe),  298-9. 

— —  children,  308-9,  396. 

 Harcourt,  Lady  Anne.    See  Gower 

Family. 

Walker,  Adam  (small  early  full-length), 
219,  238. 

 and  family,  30-1,  218,  238. 

 (?)  H9. 

Wallace,  Mr.,  119. 

 Master,  307-8. 

 Miss,  307-8. 


Wallis,  Miss  (as  Mirth  and  Melancholy), 

57,  155,  204,  230,  232-3.' 
Ward,  Lady  Arabella,  319,  396. 

 Mrs.  townley,  119,  327,  396. 

Warren,  Mrs.  Ann,  396. 

 Family  (  '  A  Family  Piece  '),  54. 

Warwick,  Henrietta  Vernon,  Countess  of, 

98,  279,  298,  396. 
 Countess  of,  and  children,  98,  322, 

339,  380. 

Watson,  Dr.  Richard,  Bishop  of  Llandaff, 

54,  151,  161. 
Webster,  Mrs.  (afterwards  Lady  Holland), 

330. 

Wellesley,  Marquis,  335. 
Wesley,  John,  155-6,  331,  333. 
Westmorland,  Earl  of,  157,  319,  334. 

 Countess  of,  300,  334. 

Whatman.  Mrs.,  306,  396. 
Whitbread,  Samuel,  335. 
Willett,  Mrs.,  330. 

William  Frederick,  Prince,  of  Gloucester, 
159. 

Williams,  Captain  Peere,  123. 
Wilson,  Rev.  Daniel,  27- 

 Mrs.  Daniel,  27. 

 Colonel  George,  27,  341. 

 Mrs.  George,  and  daughter,  27,  294, 

309. 

 James,  27. 

 Sir  John,  28. 

 Alderman  (1764),  28. 

Winn,  sons  of  Sir  George,  155. 
Woodley,  Miss  Frances,  396. 
Yates,  Sir  Joseph,  50. 

 Mrs.  (as  'Melpomene'  or  the  '  Tragic 

Muse'),  57,  and  note. 
York,  Archbishop  of.    See  Markham. 
Yorke,  Sir  J.,  335. 

Unknown  Portraits  ~ 
Family  Group  (1763),  42. 
Portrait  of  a  Young  Lady  (Free  Society  : 
1764),  48. 

 of  a  Gentleman,  three-quarters  (1765), 

51. 

 of  a  Gentleman  (1766\  51. 

A  Conversation.    See  Romney,  James,  and 
Peter. 

Two  Sisters  contemplating  on  Mortality, 
51,  287-8. 

Portrait  of  a  Lady,  whole  length  (1769),  54. 

 of  a  Lady,  whole  length  (1769),  54.  „ 

 of  a  Young  Gentleman  (1771),  59.   -  \ 

 of  a  Gentleman,  three-quarters  (1771), 

59. 

 of  a  Lady  (1796),  211. 

 of  a  Lady  (Earl  of  Crewe's  collection), 

297. 

 of  a  Barrister,  231. 

Bashful  Child,  4. 
Boy  in  Brown,  323-4. 
 Nursing  a  Dog,  340. 

411 


GEORGE 


ROMNEY 


Romney,  George — continued. 
4  The  Duchess/  391. 
4  Harrow  Gipsy,'  394. 
4  My  Lady,'  394. 
'Lavinia.'    See  Austen,  Lady. 
Mother  and  Child  (National  Gallery),  309, 

339,  394. 

  Child,  and  two  Dogs  (sepia  study), 

340,  364. 

 and  two  Children  (study — Fitzwilliam 

Museum),  364. 
Parson's  Daughter,  4,  394. 

Subjects  from  Shakespeare  and  Milton — 

The  Tempest  (Boydell's  Shakespeare),  13, 
140,  142-3,  147-51,  157,  231,  345,  351-2, 
364-5. 

Prospero,  Ferdinand   and   Miranda  (not 

painted),  78. 
Sketch  of  the  subject  with  Ariel,  144-5. 
Miranda  in  a  Boat  propelled  by  Caliban. 

See  Serena. 
King  Lear  in  the  Storm,  13,  29,  41-2, 

229-30,  232-3,  351. 
King   Lear   awakened   by  his  Daughter 

Cordelia,  29,  218,  239,  241,  351. 
Scene  from  King  Lear  (Free  Society:  1763), 

47. 

Heads  of  King  Lear  and  Cordelia,  31. 
Death  of  Cordelia  (Liverpool  cartoon),  363. 
Banquet   Scene   from  Macbeth,  143,  173, 
183. 

Cavern  Scene  from  Macbeth,  143. 

Scene  from  Macbeth  (1799),  222. 

Studies    for    Macbeth    and   The  Tempest 

(Fitzwilliam  Museum),  364-7. 
Forest  of  Arden,  with  the  Wounded  Stag 

(Boydell's  Shakespeare),  147,  214. 
Cassandra  raving  (Boydell's  Shakespeare), 

147. 

The  Indian  Votaress  {Midsummer  Night's 
Dream),  189,  214. 

Titania,  Puck,  and  the  Changeling,  191, 
229,  232-3,  353. 

Titania  reposing  with  her  Indian  Votaries, 
190,  232. 

Titania  concealing  Herself,  232. 

Margery  Jourdain  and  Bolingbroke  con- 
juring up  the  Fiend,  143,  364. 

Head  of  Satan  or  the  4  Fiend  '  (Fitzwilliam 
Museum),  364. 

Death  of  Ophelia,  180,  190,  193. 

Ophelia  leaning  over  the  VVater,  232. 

Mrs.  Ford  and  Mrs.  Page,  143. 

Adventures  of  Falstaff  (Fitzwilliam  Mu- 
seum), 367. 

Infant  Shakespeare  attended  by  Nature 
and  the  Passions,  142,  147,  170-1,  268-9, 
352-3,  362. 

Infant  Shakespeare  between  Tragedy  and 
Comedy,  170,  203,  268,  353,  362. 

Infant  Shakespeare  between  Tragedy  and 
Comedv  (Liverpool  cartoon),  362. 

412 


Sketch  for  head  of 4  Comedy,'  170. 
Birth  of  Shakespeare  (Liverpool  cartoon), 
231,  362. 

Nature  unveiling  herself  to  Shakespeare, 
269. 

The  Seven  Ages,  188-9,  193. 

Milton  and  his  Two  Daughters,  182,  184, 

194,  222,  236,  354. 

 large  composition  from,  169. 

 subjects  from,  193. 

Visions  of  Adam  with  the  Angel,  193. 

Subjects  from  Sterne's  4  Tristram  Shandy* — 
Death  of  Le  Fevre,  25,  30,  42,  239. 
Dr.  Slop  with  Obadiah,  25,  30. 

  in  Mr.   Shandy's  Parlour,  30,  243, 

283,  351. 

Uncle  Toby  and  Obadiah  in  the  Garden, 

239. 

Historical  and  Imaginative  Subjects,  Studies, 
etc. — 

Absence.   See  Susan,  or  the  Dying  Damsel. 
Accusation  of  Susannah  by  the  Two  Elders, 
97,  267. 

Afflicted  Friendship  (clay  model),  132. 
Atossa's  Dream  (Liverpool  cartoon),  98, 

195,  236,  240,  360-1. 

Black-Eyed  Susan  (embracing  a  corse) 
(cartoon),  240. 

Bacchantes  initiating  a  Nymph  (Fitz- 
william Museum),  366. 

Charity  and  her  Children  (cartoon),  236, 
241. 

Children  in  a  Boat  drifting  out  to  Sea,  232, 
268,  354. 

Cupid  and  Psyche  (picture),  218,  358. 

 (Liverpool  cartoons),  86,  355-8. 

Death  of  David  Rizzio  42,  351. 

 General  Wolfe,  42-7,  287,  351. 

 King  Edmund,  50,  351. 

Descent  of  Odin  (Liverpool  cartoon),  363. 
Designs  and  Studies  in   the  Fitzwilliam 

Museum,  Cambridge,  364-7. 
Elfrida,  41,  351. 

Fortune  -  Teller  (Fitzwilliam  Museum), 
366. 

The  Furies  (cartoon),  236. 

Ghost  of  Darius  (Liverpool  cartoon),  !)8, 

236,  240,  360-1. 
Girl  with  a  Dead  Fawn,  132,  268. 
Girls  with  a  She-Goat,  269. 
  chasing    a    Butterfly  (Fitzwilliam 

Museum),  366. 
Hand   holding  a   Letter  (Kendal  Post- 

Office),  26. 
Hecate  (cartoon),  238,  240,  242. 
Howard,  the  Philanthropist,   design  for 

Hayley's  Ode  to,  98. 
Lady's  Head  in  the  Character  of  a  Saint 

(1765),  51. 

Landscape  with  Figures :  Scene  on 
Windermere,  29,  229. 


INDEX 


Lapland  Witch  raising  a  Storm,  236,  238, 
365. 

Last  Judgment  (design— Fitzwilliam  Mu- 
seum), 3(57. 

Longus,  Designs  from  (Fitzwilliam  Mu- 
seum), 340-1. 

Lord  Bacon  collecting  Snow  for  an 
Experiment,  184. 

Lottery  Pictures  (chiefly  copies),  31. 

Madonna  and  Child,  58. 

Mater  Dolorosa,  94. 

Medea    and    her    Children  (Liverpool 

cartoon),  361. 
Melancholy  (1770),  55-7- 
Mirth  (1770),  55-7. 

 and  Melancholy.    See  Miss  Wallis. 

Newton  displaying  the  Prismatic  Colours, 
184,  194,  222,  230,  232,  354. 

Nude,  Studies  from  the,  106. 

Orpheus  and  Eurydice  (Liverpool  car- 
toons), 100,  358-60. 

Penitence.    See  Susan. 

Pliny  and  his  Mother  flying  from  the 
Eruption  of  Vesuvius  (cartoon),  236, 
240,  242. 

Prison   Scenes,  Studies  for  (Fitzwilliam 

Museum),  99. 
Prometheus  (Liverpool  cartoon),  360. 
Providence  brooding  over  Chaos  ('Jupiter 

Pluvius')  69-71,  231,  366-7. 
Roman  Studies — 

A  Beggar  Man  (1771),  59. 

An  Old  Man  (1772),  60. 

Head  of  a  Dwarf  (Baiocco),  69,  229,  233. 

 of  an  Assassin,  69,  229,  233. 

 of  an  Old  Jew,  69. 

A  Wood-Nymph,  69. 
Samson  and  Delilah  (Free  Society:  1764), 

48,  351. 

Saviour  in  the  Wilderness  ('  The  Tempta- 
tion '),  196-8,  221,  236,  243. 

Screen  with  Singing  and  Playing  Nymphs, 
230,  232. 

Sempstress.    See  Vernon,  Miss  Lucy. 
Serena  ('Triumphs  of  Temper')  pictures, 

99,  123-9,  297,  302,  386-9. 
 Reading,  full-face  (Major  Thurlow). 

101,  124,  302-3,  344. 
 profile  (Mr.  Curwen),  117,  124-5, 

128,  279,  303,  386-7. 
    profile  (Duke  of  Sutherland), 

123-5,  128,  303. 
    profile   (Victoria  and  Albert 

Museum),  125,  303. 

 profile  (Mr.  A.  Smith),  124-5. 

  in  the  Boat  of  Apathy  (Mr.  Curwen), 

117,  124-6,  128,  267. 

 (Mr.  Permain),  126. 

 (Mr.  Sichel),  126. 

 head  of  (Mr.  Shepherd),  125. 

 Honora  Sneyd  as  (Mr.  Martyn),  125. 

  (Lord  Burton).    See  Lady  Hamilton 

as  '  Sensibility.' 


Serena  (Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan).  See 
Lady  Hamilton  reading  the  Gazette. 

Shepherd  Boy  asleep,  watched  by  his  Dog, 
268. 

Shipwreck  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
240-3,  279,  341,  365. 

Sir  Christopher  Wren  carried  into  St. 
Paul's,  184. 

'  Sorrow  '  and  'Joy,'  115. 

Spaniel  baiting  a  Cat,  341. 

Susan,  or  the  Dying  Damsel  in  the  Ballad, 
When  the  Seas  were  Roaring  (also 
'  Absence,' '  Penitence,'  '  Solitude.'  See 
also  Lady  Hamilton  as  Ariadne),  135, 
180,  182-3,  190,  230,  232,  236. 

Temptation,  The.  See  Saviour  in  the 
Wilderness. 

Tobit  and  Tobias,  216-7,  241. 

Copies  by  Romney — 

Baroccio's  'Passion  of  Christ,'  231. 

Battle-Scenes  after  Borgognone,  239. 

Dutch  Boor  Smoking,  238. 

Landscapes  after  Berghem,  Poussin,  etc., 
Dutch  Scenes,  Saints,  etc.  from  prints 
(Kendal  Lottery  Pictures),  31. 

Raphael's  'Transfiguration,'  71,  73,  230-1. 

 Vatican  Frescoes,  71,  72. 

Owners  of  Romney's  Pictures  mentioned — 
Agnew,  Mr.  Lockett,  319. 
Aldenham,  Lord,  327. 
Antrobus,  Sir  Edward,  310. 
Arkwright,  Mr.  F.  C,  318. 
Arnold,  Mr.  H.,  28. 
Bagot,  Captain  Josceline,  303,  340. 
Bangor,  Viscount,  276. 
Beauchamp,  Lord,  130. 
Beit,  Mr.  Alfred  (the  late),  116. 
Bischoffsheim,  Mrs.  H.  L.,  172,  202-3. 
Bolton,  Lord,  57. 
Bosanuuet,  Major,  200. 
Boxall,  Mr.  Perceval,  178. 
Boyce,  Mr.  G.  P.  (the  late),  178. 
Brownlow,  Lord,  131. 
Brownriggs,  General  J.  Studholme,  333. 
Burrowes,  Mr.  T.  L.  120,  153. 
Burton,  Lord  (the   late),  116,  123,  128, 
309,  340. 

Byers  Collection,  America,  41, 101,  307. 
Camden,  Marquis,  131. 
Campbell,  Sir  G.  172. 
Cartwright,  Mr.  W.  C,  335. 
Cassels,  Mrs.  Walter  R.,  156. 
Chamberlayne,  Mr.  Tankerville,  114,  170, 

204,  314-5,  318,  354,  362. 
Christ  Church,  Oxford,  Governing  Body  of, 

156. 

Clavering,  Rev.  J.  W.  Napier  (the  late"* 

288  note,  307- 
Coats,  Mr.  W.  A.,  183. 
Cooke,  Mr.  Philip  Davies,  322. 
Coote.  Mr.  Eyre,  331. 

413 


GEORGE 


KOMNEY 


Romney,  George — continued. 

Cornewall,  Rev.  Sir  George,  307. 
Courteney,  Miss  B.,  170. 
Crewe,  Earl  of,  77,  296,  326. 
Curwen,  Mr.  A.,  124. 

 Mr.  H.  F.,  117,  125,  128. 

Davenport,  Mr.  W.  Bromley,  304. 
Delawarr,  Countess,  60. 
Denbigh,  Earl  of,  330. 
Devonshire,  Duke  of,  289. 
Elkins  Collection,  America,  335. 
Ellis,  Lieut. -Col.,  358. 
Eton  College  (Provost's  Lodge),  335. 
Exeter  College,  Oxford,  335. 
Eyre,  Mr.  G.  E.  B.,  324. 
Falkland,  Lord,  136. 
Fishmongers'  Company,  328. 
Fortescue,  Mr.  J.  B.,  299. 
Frick  Collection,  America,  305,  337. 
Garth,  Mr.  T.  C,  324. 
Gibbs,  Hon.  Herbert  C,  114. 
Greene,  Mr.  H.  Dawson,  49,  86,  205,  285, 
332. 

Grove,  Sir  Walter,  334. 
Gunning,  Sir  Frederick,  306. 
Harvey,  Sir  R.,  167,  225. 

 Mrs.,  of  Ickwell  Bury,  318. 

Hillingdon,  Lord,  247,  304,  311,  330. 

Hudson,  Mr.  R.  W.,  57  note. 

India  Office,  333. 

Iveagh,  Lord,  116,  315-6,  330. 

Jersey,  Earl  of,  334. 

Lane,  Major-Gen.  C.  Powlett,  323. 

 Sir  Hugh  P.,  300. 

Lansdowne,  Mai-quis  of,  308. 
Lathom,  Earl  of,  288,  294,  309. 
Leconfield,  Loi-d,  57,  170. 
Llangattock,  Lord,  57. 
Macdonald,  Mr.  F.  B.,  324. 
Martin,  Mr.  R.  Biddulph,  332. 
Martyn,  Mr.  O.  B.,  125. 
Masham,  Lord,  116,  315. 
Mendel,  S.,  Collection,  340. 
Methuen,  Rev.  T.  P.,  320. 
Mieville  Collection,  340. 
Milbanke,  Sir  John,  77. 
Morgan,  Mr.  J.  Pierpont,  123,126,128,337- 
Morris,  General  C,  339. 
Murray.  Mr.  C.  Fairfax,  43,  118,  332. 
Neeld,  Lieut. -Col.  Sir  Audley,  Bt.,  M.P., 
182. 

Newdigate-Newdegate,  General,  275. 
Normanton,  Earl  of,  4,  116. 
Northampton,  Marchioness  of,  288. 
O'Hagan,  Lady,  328. 
Osborn,  Sir  Algernon  K,,  333. 
Palmer,  Mr.  Edward  H.,  325. 
Peck,  Mr.  G.  Harland,  318-9. 
Phillpots,  Rev.  Canon,  134. 
Purvis,  Miss  Emily,  285. 
Quaire,  Madame  de,  119. 
Quilter,  Sir  Cuthbert,  4,  299. 
Radnor,  Earl  of,  210. 

414 


Raphael,  Mr.  E.  L.,  318,  324. 
Ross  Collection,  Canada,  320. 

 Major,  306. 

Rothschild,  Miss  Alice  de,  134. 

  Baron  Ferdinand  de,  136,  301. 

 Hon.  Walter,  264. 

Russell,  Mr.  Walter  J.,  191. 
Saul,  Mr.  A.  W.  Wingate,  285. 
Saumarez,  Lord  De,  321. 
Sinclair,  Sir  J.  G.  Tollemache,  105. 
Smith,  Mr.  A.,  124-5. 

 Hon.  W.  F.  D.,  M.P.,  301. 

Strickland,  Sir  Gerald,  282  note. 

Sutherland,  Duke  of,  125. 

Tennant,  Sir  Charles  (the  late),  298  note. 

 Sir  Edward,  136,  229,  298. 

Thurlow,  Major,  124,  302-3. 
Tomlinson,  Mr.  John  (the  late),  308. 
Tremayne,  Colonel,  332. 
Vernon,  Lord,  54. 

 Wentworth,  Mr.  F.  W.  P.,  118. 

Walker,  Mr.  Charles,  of  Bretargh  Holt, 

228,  284. 
Wallace,  Mr.  J.  Hope,  308. 
Wertheimer,  Mr.  Charles  J.,  113,  135, 

302,  309,  312,  319,  327. 
Wharncliffe,  Earl  of,  77. 
Widener,  Mr.  P.  A.  B.,  320. 
Willcox,  Mr.  Brodie  A.,  323. 
Yarborough,  Earl  of,  305. 

 Lady,  327. 

Yorke,  Hon.  John,  335. 

Pictures  by  other  Artists  mentioned — 

Abbott,  L.  F.,  Portraits  of  Cowper,  177-8. 
Andre,  Major,  Portrait  of  Honora  Sneyd, 
387. 

Angelo,  Michael,  Christ  in  the  Garden, 

65. 

Banks,  Thomas  R.A.  (sculptor),  Apotheosis 
of  Shakespeare,  147. 

Barret,  Miss  M..  Adam  Walker  (minia- 
ture), 278. 

 Duke  of  Northumberland  (miniature), 

278. 

 George  Romney  (miniature),  278. 

  Mr.  French  (miniature),  278. 

Baroccio,  The  Passion  of  Christ,  231. 
Beechey,  Sir  W. ,  R.A.,  Mrs.  Bosanquet, 
200. 

Blake,  William,  Har  and  Heva  Bathing,  235. 
Bunce,  S.,  Temple  of  Apollo  at  Cori,  209. 
Caravaggio,  Pieta,  231. 
Carracci,  Lodovico,  St.  Francis,  75. 
Correggio  (or  Parmigiano),  Assumption  of 

the  Virgin,  66. 

 Sigismonda,  372. 

David,  The  Horatii,  158. 

 Death  of  Socrates,  158. 

 Paris  and  Helen,  158. 

Domenichino,  St.  Agnes,  74,  290. 
Gainsborough,    Thomas,    R.A.,  Madame 

Baccelli,  369. 


INDEX 


Gainsborough,     Thomas,     R.A.,  David 

Garrick,  331. 

 Mrs.  Graham,  297. 

  Henderson,  246. 

 Mrs.  Paul  Cobb  Methuen,  320. 

 Mr.  Poyntz,  287. 

 Ramus  Sisters,  300-1. 

 William  Ramus,  301. 

 Mrs.  Robinson  (Perdita),  320. 

 R.  B.  Sheridan,  331. 

 Miss  Try  on,  338. 

Guido  Reni,  Assumption  of  the  Virgin, 

66. 

 The  Hours,  64. 

 Peter  and  Paul,  74,  290. 

Hamilton,  H.  Douglas,  British  Queen 
Boadicea  and  her  Daughters,  50. 

Hayley,  Thomas,  Mary  at  the  Tomb  of 
Christ,  205. 

 Medallion  Portrait  of  Romney, 

216,  238,  243. 

 Bust  of  Lord  Thurlow,  216. 

Hodges,  William,  R.A.,  Forest  of  Arden 
(Boydell's  Shakespeare),  147. 

Hogarth,  William,  March  to  Finchley,  39. 

Holbein,  Hans,  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Roches- 
ter, 207. 

Hoppner,   John,    R.A.,    Lady  Elizabeth 

Compton  and  Children,  227. 
Howard,  Henry,  R.A.,  Tom  Hayley,  208. 
Kauffmann,   Angelica,    Ladv   Craven  as 
^  Hebe,  329. 

Kettle,  Tilly,  Anna  Seward,  153. 
Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  P.R.A.,  Sketch  of 

Cowper,  178. 

 Duchess  of  Gordon,  311. 

 Sketch  of  Lady  Hamilton,  160. 

Le  Brun,  Madame,  Lady  Craven,  328. 

 Lady  Hamilton,  116. 

Lely,  Sir  Peter,  Sir  William  Strickland, 

26. 

Lonsdale,  James,  Sir  Philip  Francis,  273. 

 Group  of  Himself  and  Brothers, 

277. 

 Joseph  Nollekens,  R.A.,  277- 

Mortimer,  J.  H.,  A. R.A.,  Battle  of  Agin- 
court,  47. 

 Edward  the  Confessor  Spoiling 

his  Mother  at  Winchester,  44. 
 St.    Paul    Preaching    to  the 

Ancient  Druids  in  Britain,  47. 
Northcote,  James,  R.A.,  Death  of  Wat 

Tyler,  146. 
 Murder  of  the  Princes  in  the 

Tower,  146. 
Parmigiano,  St.  Margaret,  74-5,  290. 
Phillips,  T.,  R.A.,  Rev.  Thomas  Sockett, 

203. 

Pine,  R.  Edge,  Canute  the  Great  Reprov- 
ing his  Courtiers,  43. 

Pocock,  Isaac,  Bartley  as  '  Hamlet,'  277. 

 Murder  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket, 

277. 


Raphael,    Judith    with    the     Head  of 

Holofernes,  66. 

 St.  Cecilia,  74-5,  290. 

 Transfiguration,  71. 

Rawlinson,  James,  Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin, 

276. 

 An  Old  Woman  Knitting,  276. 

Rembrandt,  Portrait  of  Himself,  233. 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  P.R.A.,  Thais 
(Emily  Bertie),  101. 

 Mrs.      Charles     Boone  and 

Daughter,  324. 

 ■  Penelope  Boothby,  380. 

 Borringdon  Children,  301. 

 Miss  Bowles,  380. 

 Lady  Sarah  Bunbury,  287 ;  sacri- 
ficing to  the  Graces,  287. 

 '  Collina,'  380. 

 Ladv  Elizabeth  Compton,  227, 

326. 

 Lady  Craven,  329. 

 Master  Crewe,  380. 

 Duchess    of    Devonshire  and 

Child,  369. 

 Lady  Elizabeth  Foster,  289. 

 Garrick  between  Tragedy  and 

Comedy,  287. 

  Edward  Gibbon,  130. 

 Lady  Elizabeth  Keppel,  287. 

 Mrs.  Paul  Cobb  Methuen,  320. 

 The  Ladies  Montagu,  287. 

•  Nelly  O'Brien,  287. 

 — —  Mrs.  Robinson  (Perdita),  320. 

 Mrs.  Drummond  Smith,  288. 

 Laurence  Sterne,  331. 

 Colonel  Tarleton,  156. 

 Lord  Chancellor  Thurlow,  100. 

■   Lady  W aldegrave  and  Daughter, 

287. 

 Death  of  Cardinal  Beaufort,  142, 

147,  352. 

 Infant  Hercules,  142,  252. 

 Macbeth  and  the  Witches,  147. 

 Puck,  or  Robin  Goodfellow,  147. 

Robinson,   Thomas,   Encounter  between 

King's  Troops  and  Peasants  at  Ballyna- 

hinch,  276. 
 Group   at  Dromore   Palace  in 

1807,  276. 

 ■  Military  Procession  in  Belfast  in 

Honour  of  Lord  Nelson,  276. 

 The  Giant's  Causeway,  276. 

Romney,  Peter,  various  portraits,  384. 
Roubiliac,  L.  F.,  Statue  of  Newton,  196. 
Rubens,  Assumption  of  the  Virgin,  66. 

 Bacchanalian  Scene,  66. 

Shee,  Sir  M.  A.,  P.R.A.,  George  Romney, 

212-3. 

Sherwin,  John  K.,  The  Finding  of  Moses, 
327. 

Smart,  John,  Honora  Sneyd,  387. 
Stewardson,   Thomas,   Colonel  Braddyl), 
278. 

415 


I 


GEORGE 

Romney,  George — continued. 

Stewardson,  Thomas,  George  m.  and  Queen 
Caroline,  277- 

 Grote,  277. 

 Miss  Millers,  278. 

 Mrs.  John  Romney,  278. 

 E.  B.  Wilbraham,  M.P.,  278. 

Titian,  Judith,  76. 

 Madonna  and  Child  with  St.  Peter,  75. 

 St.  John  the  Baptist,  76. 

Van  Dyck,  Henrietta  Maria,  80. 
 portraits   in"  Balbi   and  Rosso 

Palaces,  Genoa,  65. 
Verdnese,  Paul,  Mary  Washing  the  Feet  of 

Christ,  65. 

West,  Benjamin,  R.A.,  Death  of  General 

Wolfe,  55. 

 King  Lear,  142. 

Wright,  Joseph,  R.A.,  of  Derby,  Virgil's 

Tomb,  127. 

 Mrs.  George  (painter's  wife),  20-1,  29, 

41,  218-9,  227 ;  her  relations  with  her  hus- 
band, 257-63 ;  383. 

 Colonel  James  (painter's  brother),  10-11, 

25,  31,  51,  131,  192,  225-6,  235,  246,  251-2, 
381,  385. 

 Jane  (painter's  sister),  381-2. 

 John  (painter's  father),  8-10,  12,  18,  381. 

—  Mrs.  John  (painter's  mother),  10,  12, 
381. 

— —  John  (painter's  brother),  41,  381,  383. 

 Rev.  John  (painter's  sou),  4,  14,  19,  20  ; 

on  his  father's  early  marriage,  22;  25,  30-1, 
43  ;  on  the  jealousy  between  Reynolds  and 
Romney,  44-5  ;  47-8,  51,  53,  56,  58-9,  61, 
67-8  ;  on  studying  from  the  nude,  69  ;  70, 
77,  79,  82;  on  Hayley's  influence  in  dis- 
suading Romney  from  joining  the  Royal 
Academy,  91-3  ;  94-5,  97  ;  comparison  be- 
tween Reynolds  and  Romney,  101  ;  108 ; 
on  Lady  Hamilton,  112-3  ;  114,  121-2,  131, 
135;  on  the  Shakespeare  Gallery,  140-1, 
143;  144,  148,  155,  157-8,  161,  170-1,  182, 
184  ;  on  Romney's  collection  of  casts  from 
the  antique,  185-6  ;  189-90, 194, 196-7,  202, 
204-5,  210-1  ;  description  and  cost  of  the 
Hampstead  house,  212;  on  Cockin,  220; 
on  Romney's  health  and  last  years,  221, 
226  ;  233 ;  sketch  of  his  own  life,  227-8  ; 
230-4,  237,  239;  his  Life  of  Romney, 
243-4;  247 ;  on  Romney's  character  and 
infirmities,  251-2,  255-6  ;  on  Romney's 
relations  with  his  wife,  260-2  ;  on  Romney's 
methods  of  work  and  unfinished  pictures, 
267-9 ;  on  Romney's  rapidity  of  painting, 
272  ;  275,  280,  289  ;  on  Romney's  skill  in 
painting  dogs,  341  ;  on  The  Tempest,  352; 
355,  358,  360  ;  on  Romney's  cartoons,  361 ; 
362-7  ;  on  Romney's  art,  376-8  ;  383-4. 

 Mr.  J.  O.  (painter's  eldest  great-grandson), 

227. 

 Lawrence  (painter's  brother),  10,  381-2. 

416 


ROMNEY 

Romney,  Mr.  Lawrence  (painter's  great-grand- 
son), 8,  82,  99,  119, 177,  203,  264,  385  note. 
 Lord,  38. 

 ■  Peter  (painter's  brother),  11,  28,  31-2, 

50-1,  220,  252,  275,  381,  383-5. 

 Robert  and   Richard   (twins  —  painter's 

brothers),  381. 

 Thomas  (painter's  brother),  381. 

 William  (painter's  great-uncle),  7. 

 (painter's  brother),  10,  381. 

 Exhibitions  (1900-1).  See  Grafton  Gal- 
lery. 

 Sale  (1805),  230. 

 (1807),  3,  183,  191,  229,  230-3,  238, 

321,  340,  367. 

 (1834),  4,  204,/229,  233. 

 Miss,  Sale  (1894),  16,  21,  114,  118,  177, 

191,  228-30,  233,  278,  314. 
Rosa,  Salvator,  206. 
Roscoe,  William,  355. 
Rose,  Samuel,  174,  224-5,  237. 

 William,  225. 

Ross,  General  Alexander,  306. 

Roubiliac,  Louis  Francois  (sculptor),  38,  196 

Rouquet,  Jean  (enamel  painter),  37. 

Rousseau,  Jean-Jacques,  253-4,  263. 

Royal  Academy  of  Arts,  attempt  to  form,  in 

1755,  38. 

Royal  Academy,  36-7  ;  foundation  of,  40 ;  43, 
85,  92,  106,  133,  203,  209,  248,  276-9,  301. 

 Schools,  132,  275,  277. 

 Winter  Exhibitions  (1871),  3  ;  (1873), 

288;  (1877),  127,  171,  328;  (1878),  298, 
304  ;  (1879),  321 ,  330  ;  (1880),  118  ;  (1882), 
119,  134,  310,  333,  339 ;  (1887),  325 ;  (1888), 
127,  306;  (1890),  117,  126;  (1891),  304, 
330  ;  (1892),  304,  385  ;  (1893),  324  ;  (1894), 
130,  315,  323;  (1895),  127;  (1896),  322, 
330;  (1904),  324;  (1906),  57,  278,  305, 
323,  333  ;  (1907),  77,  321. 

 Hibernian  Academy,  Winter  Exhibition. 

See  Dublin  Old  Masters. 

Rubens,  Peter  Paul,  50,  66,  158,  233,  289, 
373. 

Rumbold,  Sir  Thomas,  135. 
Rumney,  Mr.  A.  W.,  7. 
Rural  Sabbath,  The  (Cockin),  220. 
Rusland,  near  Whitestock,  227. 
Russell,  Mr.  Archibald  G.  B.,  235. 

 Sir  Henry,  134. 

 Lady,  163,  298  note. 

Russel,  Lord  (W.  Hayley),  131. 
Russia,  Empress  of,  142,  252. 
Rutland,  Duchess  of,  327. 
Rycroft,  Rev.  Sir  Richard  N.,  321. 

Sadlf.ir,  R.  V.,  141. 
St.  Cloud,  50. 
St.  Esprit,  63. 

St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  207,  227. 
St.  Martin's  Lane  Academy,  36-7,  42,  145,  287. 
St.  Paul's,  London,  decoration  of,  81,  214  ; 
184,  213,  226. 


INDEX 


St.  Peter's  Court,  87. 
 Rome,  72. 

Sam  (Cowper's  man),  174,  177,  180. 
Sandby,  Paul,  R.A.,  39,  141. 

 Thomas,  R.A.,  38. 

Sandford  and  Merton  (T.  Day),  388. 
San  Pietro  in  Montorio,  Rome,  71. 
Sarto,  Andrea  del,  74. 

Saunders  (Romney's  frame  maker),  58,  231,  235, 

237,  239-40,  321. 
Saville,  Mr.,  of  Lichfield,  120. 
Scawfell,  12. 

Scenes  jrom  Clerical  Life  (George  Eliot),  275. 
Scharf,  Sir  George,  177. 
Schiavonetti,  L.  (engraver),  38,  279. 
Schomberg  House,  Pall  Mall,  104. 
Scotland,  National  Gallery  of,  297. 
Scott,  J.  (engraver),  395. 

 Sir  Walter,  153. 

Scriven,  Edward  (engraver),  191. 
Seagrave,  J.,  224. 
Sedbergh  School,  28. 
Sedcole,  H.  (engraver),  393. 
Sedelmeyer  Sale  (1907),  358. 
Sefton,  Countess  of,  329. 
Selby,  Mrs.,  134. 
Sentimental  Journey  (Sterne),  79. 
'  Serena '  pictures,  123-9,  38G-9. 
Sevenoaks,  62. 

Seward,  Anna,  2,  3,  114  j  her  portraits  by 
Romney,  119-21 ;  123-4  ;  letters  and  verses 
to  Romney  and  Hayley  on  receiving  her 
portrait,  151-3  ;  on  Mrs.  Hayley,  159-60  ; 
on  Charlotte  Smith,  179;  185,  245,  329, 
365  ;  letters  about  Honora  Sneyd  and 
'  Serena,'  386-9. 

 Miss  (Anna's  cousin),  153. 

 Thomas,  prebendary  of  Lichfield,  120-1, 

151-2. 

Seward's  Anecdotes,  77. 
Shackleton,  John  (painter),  37. 
Shad  well,  Mrs.,  246. 

Shakespeare,  140-2,  146,  148-9,  155,  189,  271, 

301,  348,  352,  362-4. 
Shakespeare  Gallery  (Boydell's),  115,  140-7,  164, 

168,  170,  173,  185,  215,  350-1,  353,  362. 
Shakespeare  Memorial,  Stratford,  171,  190-1. 
Sharp,  William  (engraver),  128,  186. 
Shee,  Sir  Martin  Archer,  P.R.A.,  212. 
Sheffield,  Lord,  130. 

Shepherd  Bros.,  Messrs.,  21,  282,  284-5. 

  Mr.  G.  H.,  125,  208  note. 

Sheridan,  R.  B.,  52,  246-7. 

Sherwin,  J.  K.  (engraver),  279,  327. 

Shipley,  William,  of  Northampton,  38. 

Shury,  G.  S.  (engraver),  392. 

Sibyl's  Temple,  Tivoli,  72. 

Sichel,  Mr.  Walter,  21,  103,  117-8,  126,  316. 

Siddons,  Mrs.,  129,  153,  171. 

Siena,  67. 

Simonds,  Rev.  Dr.,  28. 

Simpson,  Ann  (painter's  mother).  See  Mrs. 
John  Romney. 

G.R.— 27 


Sir  Thomas  Lawrence's  Letter  Bag  (G.  S.  Layard), 
166. 

Sistine  Chapel,  71. 

Sizergh  Castle,  26-7,  282,  285. 

Sladebank  in  Millom,  10. 

Smart,  John  (miniaturist)  387. 

Smith,  Benjamin  (engraver),  170,  184,  362. 

  Mrs.  Charlotte  (novelist),  179,  183. 

  John  Raphael  (engraver),  59,  124,  279, 

297,  304,  307,  312,  387,  391,  395. 
  J.  T.,  43,  60,  68,  103,  213,  248,  258, 

327. 

Sneyd,  Edward,  388. 

  Elizabeth,  388-9. 

  Honora,  118,  123,  154,  304,  386-9. 

  Ralph,  304,  388-9. 

Snyders,  Frans,  341. 

Society  of  Artists,  Associated,  etc.  (See  also  Free 

Society),  39,  40. 

  of  British  Artists,  277- 

  for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts,  38-40, 

43-4,  50,  81,  351. 
  of  Incorporated  Artists  of  Great  Britain. 

See  Incorporated  Society. 

  of  Jesus,  Rome,  72. 

Sockett,  Rev.  Thomas,  174-5,  203. 
Somerset,  Lady  Mary,  201. 
Southey,  William,  85,  303. 
South  Kensington  Museum,  125. 
Spectator,  365. 
Spencer,  John,  319. 
  Lord,  225. 

Spilsbury,  John  (engraver),  156. 
Spring  Gardens,  99. 

 Exhibitions    in,    39,   40,   42,  55, 

57-8,  92. 
Stafford  family  portraits,  291-4. 

  House,  95,  100,  123,  292  note,  313. 

Stainton,  near  Dalton,  227. 

Stamp,  E.  (engraver),  392. 

Stavordale,  Lord,  194  note,  249. 

Steele,  Christopher(Romney's  master),  7,  18-24, 

33-5,  219,  273,  280-1,  283. 
Steevens,  George  (Shakespearean  scholar),  129. 
Stephens,  Mr.  F.  G.,  379-80. 
Stephenson,  Rowland,  41,  47,  129. 
Sterne,  Laurence,  22-3,  79,  239,  251. 
Stevenson,  F.  G.  (engraver),  394. 
Stewardson,  Thomas  (Romney's  pupil),  143,  211, 

277-8. 

Stewart,  Lady  Susannah.    See  Lady  Gower. 
Stockport,  11,  33,  385. 
Stonehenge,  210. 

Stothard,  Thomas,  R.A.,  127-8,  344. 

Strange,  Sir  Robert  (engraver),  38. 

Strawberry  Hill,  328. 

Streatham,  the  Thrales'  house  at,  95. 

Strickland,  Walter,  of  Sizergh  Castle,  26,  282. 

Stuart,  Sir  Simeon,  134. 

Sulley's  Gallery,  Messrs.,  305. 

Swift,  Theophilus,  179. 

Sykes,  Benjamin,  382. 

Syrian  Queen  (W.  Hayley),  84. 

417 


GEORGE 


ROM  NEY 


Tabley,  Lord  de,  191. 
Talamas,  246. 

Talbot,  Sir  George,  Bt.,  324. 

Task,  The  (Cowper),  182. 

Tassie,  James  (gem  engraver),  146-7. 

Tatham,  F.,  235. 

'  Temple  of  Aesculapius,'  104. 

Templetown,  Lady,  274-5. 

Tennant,  Mr.,  385  note. 

Thomas,  Inigo  F.,  323. 

  Mr.,  of  Hawarden,  103. 

Thornhill,  Sir  James,  36-7. 

  John  (marine  painter),  37. 

Thornton,  John,  84,  98,  132. 
Thorold,  Sir  John,  Bt.,  324. 
Thrale,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  95. 

Three  Generations  of  Fascinating  Women  (Lady 

Russell),  163. 
Throckmorton  Archery  Club,  178. 
Thunberg,  Carl  Peter,  365. 
Thurlow,  Lord  Chancellor,  99-101,  124,  148-9, 

158,  161,  216-7,  225,  245,  307 ;  on  '  Orpheus 

and  Eurydice,'  359-60. 
Tighe,  Mrs.,  155. 
Tily,  E.  (engraver),  392-3. 
'  Timanthes,'  145. 

Times,  The  (newspaper),  305,  309,  320,  322, 
324. 

Tintoretto  (Jacopo  Robusti),  75,  290. 
Tiriel  (W.  Blake),  235. 
Titian,  72,  74-6,  78,  233,  290. 
Tivoli,  72. 

Tomkins,  C.  (engraver),  392. 
Toms,  W.  H.  (engraver),  145. 
Totty,  Admiral,  116. 
Townley,  Charles  (painter),  68. 
Trentham  Hall,  95,  123,  125,  292  note,  293. 
Tresham,  Henry,  R.A.,  105,  230. 
Trevelyan,  Willoughby  (Romney's  pupil),  267, 
276. 

Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  10,  52,  84,  322. 
Tristram  Shandy  (Sterne),  22,   25,   30,  243, 
283,  351. 

Triumphs  of  Temper  (W.  Haylev),  85,  115,  123-8, 

168,  302,  387. 
Truchsellian  Gallery,  241. 
Turin,  78,  166. 

Turk's  Head,  Gerrard  St.,  39,  81. 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A.,  202,  380. 
Two  Connoisseurs  (W.  Hayley),  129. 
Tyson,  Stephen  (printer),  244. 

Udney,  Mr.,  73,  76. 

Uffizi  Gallery,  264. 

Ulverston,  12,  244,  381,  383-4. 

'  Unincreasables '  (Romney's  Club),  247. 

Universal  Dictionary  of  Arts,  etc.,  The  Cyclopaedia 

of (Rees),  371. 
Universal  Magazine,  14. 
Unwin,  William  Cawthorne,  180,  225. 

  Mrs.,  173-6,  180. 

Up  Park,  Sussex,  105-7. 

Upper  Cocken,  10,  12-14,  21,  24,  26,  49. 

418 


Vaile  Sale  (1903),  358. 

Vanderbank,  John  (portrait  painter),  36. 

Van  Dyck,  A.,  65-6,  80,  233,  290. 

Van  Loo,  Carle,  18,  281. 

Vasari,  Giorgio,  272. 

Vassall,  Richard,  330. 

Vatican,  71,  141. 

Venice,  73-7,  79,  87,  290,  293. 

Venus  to  Lady  Warwick  (W.  Hayley),  298. 

Verelst,  Governor,  47,  351. 

Vernet,  Joseph,  50. 

Vernon,  Admiral,  115,  118,  135.  267. 

 Miss  Lucy  ('The  Sempstress'),  118,  135. 

Veronese,  Paolo,  65,  75,  233,  290. 

Versailles,  50,  79. 

Vesuvius.  167,  335. 

Village  Curate  (Rev.  J.  Hurdis),  179. 

Vinci,  Leonardo  da,  14. 

Virgil,  236,  359. 

Viterbo,  67,  74. 

Waldegrave,  Lady  Charlotte  Maria,  201. 

Waldstein,  Professor,  180. 

Wales,  Prince  of  (George  iv.),  159,  163,  168, 

205.    See  also  George  iv. 

 Princess  Dowager  of,  301. 

Walker,   Adam,   25-6,  29-31,   33;  letter  to 

Romney  about  Christopher  Steele,  34-5  ; 

41,  80,  156,  214,  218-9,  237-41,  247,  254, 

283. 

 James  (engraver),  116,  279,  341.  390,  396. 

Wallace  Collection,  29,  231,  320. 
Wallis,  Miss,  204. 

Walpole,  Horace,  59,  155,  201,  328. 

Walquier,  of  Brussels,  156. 

Waltner,  C.  (engraver),  390. 

Ward  (H.)  and  Roberts  (W.),  Life  of  Romney, 

117,  122,  288,  317,  333. 

 Mrs.  Townley,  327. 

Warner,  Dr.,  148,  152,  158. 
Warton,  Dr.,  195,  210. 
Warwick  Castle,  72,  77,  80,  87. 

 Earl  of,  72-4,  76,  80,  83,  106,  388. 

Washington,  General,  154. 
Water-Colour  Society,  278. 
Watson,  Bishop,  54-5,  161. 
  Caroline  (engraver),  60,  116,  170,  172, 

176,  208  note,  242-3,  279,  317,  362. 

 James  (engraver),  43,  279. 

Watteau,  Jean  Antoine,  30. 
Webb,  J.  Cother  (engraver),  395. 
Webster,  Godfrey,  330. 

 Mrs.  (Lady  Holland),  330. 

Wedgwood,  Josiah,  132. 
Wedmore,  Mr.  Frederick,  378. 
Wehrschmidt,  D.  A.  (engraver),  390,  392. 
Wesley,  John,  155-6. 

West,  Benjamin,  R.A.,  40,  55,  72,  81,  140-2, 
147,  150,  168,  347. 

 Mrs.,  385. 

Westall,  Richard,  R.A.,  141. 
West  Indian  (R.  Cumberland),  52. 
West  Indies,  10,  33-5,  381. 


INDEX 


Westmorland  (co.),  7,  228,  239. 

Weston  Underwood,  173-4,  177,  180,  182-3. 

Whalley  (painter),  68. 

Whitbread,  Samuel,  184. 

Whitehaven,  15,  308. 

Whitestock  Cottage,  227. 

 Hall,  12,  177,  223,  227-8. 

 Howe,  223. 

Whittaker,  Matthew,  of  Kendal,  31. 
Whittington  Hall,  Kirkby  Lonsdale,  49,  86, 
205,  332. 

Wickham  (Dr.  Warton's),  195,  210. 
Wickstead,  Philip,  68. 
Wilkie,  Sir  David,  R.A.,  243. 
Willett,  Mr.  Henry,  186. 
William  in.,  36. 
 iv.,  202. 

Williams,  John  (actor),  247. 

  Helen  Maria  (poetess),  246,  363. 

Williamson,  John,  14-17,  280,  384. 
Wilson,  Admiral,  28. 

 Daniel,  of  Dallam  Tower,  27- 

 Col.  George,  27. 

 Rev.  Mr.,  131. 

 Richard,  R.A.,  39,  249,  348. 

 S.  E.  (engraver),  390,  393. 

Wilton,  210. 

 Joseph,  R.A.  (sculptor),  43. 

Windermere,  18,  29,  228,  266,  281. 


Windsor,  150. 

Woollett,  William  (engraver),  38. 
Woolnoth,  Thomas  (engraver),  154. 
Woltemad,  365. 
Wouwerman,  Philips,  31. 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  184. 
Wright,  Joseph,  R.A.,  of  Derby,  68,  81,  88, 
129. 

 Richard  (painter),  18. 

 Mr.  Thomas  (Life  of  Cowper),  88,  178. 

 Thomas  (engraver),  244. 

  Mr.,  cabinetmaker  of  Lancaster,  18,  281. 

Wyatt,  James,  R.A.,  208. 
Wyndham,  Charles,  of  Rogate,  202. 
 George,  201-3. 

    Francis,  fourth  Earl  of  Egremont, 

202. 

 Sir  Henry,  K.C.B.,  202. 

Wyon,  Thomas  (medallist),  38. 
 William,  R.A.  (medallist),  38. 

Yeldham,  95. 

York,  21-3,  25,  80,  132,  161,  260,  279. 

 Duke  of  (H.R.H.  Prince  Frederick),  322. 

Young,  Arthur,  202. 

Zobel,  G.  (engraver),  392. 
Zoffany,  Johann,  R.A.,  68. 
Zucchi,  Antonio,  A.  R.A.,  41. 


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